Every Gamer's Dream - or Nightmare!
by Jeffrey Finn
Summary: Awakening in his favorite game, Loki must use his knowledge of The Elder Scrolls and Tamriel to stay alive and try to get home.
1. Chapter 1 - Waking up in Skyrim

The young man slowly awoke to the sound of horses pulling carts down a cobblestone road, his head pounding as the cart jostled him about. He'd had hangovers before, but never had one felt like this. As he opened his eyes he realized it wasn't a hangover from the liquor the night before making his head pound and hallucinate horses, but the real thing.

"What? Wait, where am I?" he said as his eyes finally began to focus on a strange blonde warrior in blue armor.

Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right?...

"NO WAY!" he interrupted, "Ralof? Damn, this is one hell of a dream. I must have had way too much to drink last night."

"I'm sorry, you know me? Have we met before?" Ralof asked as he looked the young man up and down for some recognition. He was barely older than a boy, maybe 20 years at the most with long, brown hair and a slim physique that didn't look like he had done a lot of outdoor activity.

"Many times, but you wouldn't remember. I just hope I remember all this after I wake up."

"Not sure if you noticed, but you did just wake up. You seem to think you're still dreaming." Ralof said with a very confused look on his face. "Did you have a bit too much mead before you passed out?"

"Oh, I had way too much to drink, that's for sure. Jagermeister kicked my ass."

"Got in a fight with someone too? Interesting name this opponent has."

"No, Jagermeister is the name of the liquor, the drink. It makes mead look like milk."

"You still haven't told me how you know my name stranger. When have we met before?"

"Ralof, I've played this game more times than I can count, but I must admit, this feels very real."

"Game? I'm not sure what you're talking about, but this is very real. Are you sure you're not just trying to convince yourself that we aren't on our way to the block?"

The carts stopped and the guards ordered everyone out. _Looks like I'm going to have to play along until I wake up,_ he thought as he stepped down out of the wagon with his hands bound tightly together. When Hadvar told him to step forward and asked his name he thought his own name would sound very strange in Skyrim so he decided to give the name Loki of Asgard after his favorite Norse god of mischief.

"I'm sorry, Loki, I'm not familiar with Asgard. Where is that?" Hadvar asked.

"It's not in Tamriel, I'm not from this land. I demand to know what crime I have committed to be sentenced to death."

"Captain, what should we do? He's not on the list."

"Forget the list, he goes to the block." the Captain said.

"By your orders Captain. I'm Sorry, follow the Captain prisoner."

"Really Hadvar? You don't even have enough backbone to stand up to orders to send a man to the block without a crime?" Spineless coward!"

As he walked to the group to be executed, Loki, as he had chosen, overheard General Tullius monologuing to Ulfric Stormcloak for his misuse of power and murder of the high king. He kept wondering to himself when this dream would end and he would wake up. Everytime he had become aware he was dreaming before he usually woke up within moments, but this seemed different. It was the most real dream he had ever had. He could feel the bitter cold of the wind blowing across his bare arms and face, feel the rocks under his feet, even smell the stench of manure from the animals around the town. He decided if he was going to live out this dream of Skyrim, he would have a little fun with it and do something he wished he could do in the game. He just prayed Alduin wasn't running late.

As he was looking around taking in his surroundings and deciding on his "final words," he heard Hadvar call out "Step toward the block Loki, nice and easy."

As he stepped forward, Loki smiled at Hadvar, then looked the Captain straight in the eye and said "For my final words in this life I call upon Akatosh to bring justice to those who would execute a man without a trial or even a crime to be accused of. Send unto me your firstborn son Alduin, that he may judge these murderers in blood and fire!" Loki then knelt before the block having noticed the very nervous expressions being passed between everyone present. He couldn't help but chuckle a little as the headsman looked at his axe, realizing he was about to carry out an execution without knowing if the one he was executing was even guilty. The moment of hesitation from doubt was just long enough. Loki breathed a great sigh of relief as he heard the great roar echo down from the side of the mountain. "Thank the Nine! They heard me" he said just as the Captain put him down on the block with her boot. Before the headsman could even raise his axe Alduin crashed down on top of the tower and let out a shout that shook Helgen to the core. As a storm grew over Helgen and rocks began to fall from the sky Loki jumped to his feet and made a dash for the tower on the far side of the courtyard followed closely by Ralof.

Once inside, Ralof shut the door and turned to Ulfric, "Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?

"Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric said. Then turning to Loki, "What have you done? You called on the World Eater himself? You've doomed us all."

"I didn't actually call him, I just already knew he was coming and used it to delay getting my head chopped off. Now someone cut my hands loose so I can actually do something." Ralof and Ulfric both glanced at each other and shrugged. "Really, no one has a knife? How did you two get free? Did they not bind you as tight as they did me? Am I really that much of a threat to them?" Then he thought to himself _Wait, everyone knows flames at the beginning. Ok, how do I do this?_ He opened his palm and tried to will a flame to appear in his hand. As he focused, he imagined a flame igniting in his palm. He felt a strange sensation like the tingle of electricity in his arm and then, to his complete surprise, a small flame appeared in the middle of his open hand. "I can't believe that worked," he said as he held the flame to the wraps binding his wrists. Just as the wraps were about to burn through he felt he fire burning his wrists as well. "Ow, damnit! that really hurts. I've never felt this much pain in a dream before."

Ulfric looked at Loki for a moment with a very concerned look on his face, then casually said "This isn't a dream Boy, it's life or death" and walked away.

After getting his bindings burnt through Loki tried to summon a healing spell to sooth the burns on his wrists, but was interrupted as the wall up the stairs was knocked in by a very pissed off dragon. As Alduin shouted "Yol Toor Shul" and filled the stairwell with fire, the intensity of the heat came barreling down the stairs and right into Loki's face. It was so hot that it almost felt as if his skin would cook. It was at that moment that He realized this "dream" was no dream at all. The danger was real, the pain was real, and for the first time he got worried that death here might be real too, and so the fear became real as well.

Ralof grabbed him by the shirt and shook him back from his thoughts. "Pull yourself together boy, if you want to live. Come on, you've got to jump to that inn."

Loki glanced around and got his bearings, snapping out of the trance-like state he had been in. He ran to the top of the stairs and jumped as hard as he could, landing in a roll to absorb the blow. Through the inn and out the other side to find Hadvar trying to save a small boy.

"Still alive Prisoner? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way.

"Oh, NOW you want to be courageous. You can face a dragon, but not your Captain?

Hadvar just looked at Loki, then turned and ran toward General Tullius. As they ran past a wall Alduin landed directly above them. The Elder Scrolls games he had played for years did nothing to prepare him for this moment, staring up at the massive black dragon. They did him no justice on size or intimidating appearance. His scales were as black as a moonless night, his claws like shards of obsidian, his roar like thunder from a thousand bolts of lightning at once, and his eyes looked as deep as the void of Sithis. Loki felt another rush of pure adrenaline as a cold sweat came across his brow. Just as Alduin took to the air, Loki and Hadvar bolted away to where the General was mustering the remaining troops and ordering them to get everyone into the keep.

Loki ran for the keep with Hadvar close behind, just as the got near the door, Ralof appeared.

"Ralof! You damned traitor. Out of my way!" Hadvar yelled.

"We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time." Ralof replied.

"Fine, I hope that dragon takes you all... "

"Shut up you two, and get your asses inside now!" Loki screamed at the two Nords. "We have bigger problems than your petty civil war. Now both of you, FOLLOW ME!"

The two nords looked at each other and then at loki just as a rock crashed behind them. Loki opened the door and then ran back out, grabbing both men by the collars of their armor and dragging them through the door. Once inside, he looked back for any more survivors near the door; seeing none, he closed it.

Loki turned to find Ralof and Hadvar facing each other with their swords drawn, each waiting for the other to make the first move so they could fight. "Will you two put your damn egos aside so we can try to solve the problem of A BIG BLACK DRAGON TRYING TO KILL EVERYONE?! You are both from Riverwood, you both no doubt know and love the same people, and those people are right down the road in a wooden town with no keep to hide in while this dragon is flying around destroying stone towers like they were sandcastles on the beach. You need to put aside your petty differences for now and focus on figuring out how to get us safely out of here so we can go warn those people that they are in danger. Look, you both love Skyrim and it's people, you just have different ideas about what is the best way to protect it. Well, right now is not the time to decide the politics, right now is the time to join together and fight FOR those people you both grew up with and that you BOTH love! Do you understand me? Am I getting this through those thick Nord skulls? Now, put those damn swords away and help me find some gear!"

The two Nords stared at Loki for a moment as if in disbelief, then looked at each other for a second with what almost looked like shame in their faces as they sheathed their swords.

"Wait, how do you know so much about us and where we are from? This is the first time I've ever seen you? Hadvar questioned.

"I thought the same thing," Ralof replied as he began to look around the room for gear. "He seems to know a great deal about us. If we get out of this alive, I'd like to know how you know us so well."

Loki was trying to focus on summoning a healing spell again as he listened to the two soldiers talk. As he finally managed to get his palm to glow with the spell and apply it to his burnt wrist he replied to the obviously suspicious men "If we get out of this alive, I just might tell you. For now, I'll simply say that my knowledge comes directly from the Elder Scrolls and leave it at that. Now, let me get out of these rags and lets get to Riverwood."


	2. Chapter 2 - Forging His Own Quest

It had been a long trek through the tunnel and down the mountain. The peace between Hadvar and Ralof was shaky at best, and it was taking every bit of Loki's diplomatic skills to keep them from turning on each other. Hadvar had not taken kindly to Ralof running the Imperial interrogator through with his sword, but Loki finally convinced him that even he had to admit the old bastard had gotten what he deserved. Hadvar reluctantly agreed and they proceeded through the tunnels. When they emerged from the tunnels the two soldiers suggested going separate ways, but Loki argued against it saying they needed to walk into town together in their armor to show the people of Riverwood the two factions working together to face a common threat.

"We must do this for the people to give them hope that no matter their political affiliation, they are all citizens of Skyrim and must work together for the survival of all men and mer."

The young man who thought he had been dreaming about his favorite video game was slowly coming to terms with just how real this dreamworld was and that if he wanted to survive, if he ever wanted the possibility of seeing home again, he was going to have to play the game like he had never played before. Being as this seemed to be very much like real life, he couldn't count hit points vs. health points and just take wounds to let them heal later, he would have to actually avoid getting hit. He was going to have to accept this as real life until he could find a way home or, HOPEFULLY, wake up in his own bed the same way he woke up here. He was going to have to learn to use the magic in this world, learn archery, learn hand to hand combat (this one, he felt, would be his greatest challenge as he was much more of a geek than a jock), and he was going to have to find out if he was actually the dragonborn in this story. The last part he preferred to find out before he actually had to face a dragon. Being that the Amulet of Kings was destroyed 200 years ago, he knew of only one way to test himself for being dragonborn without fighting a dragon first, he would have to get to Skyhaven Temple and try his blood on the seal. If it worked, he would know it was him and what he must do. This was the quest he gave himself. Now he just had to find a way to get himself to the Reach, and he needed to enlist these two men to help him do it without getting their hopes up should he not be the Dragonborn. He began putting together a plan as they walked along. He also kept trying to heal his wrists from the burns. He could work the spell enough to heal the burns, but they were still going to leave scars. He had a lot to learn...

Upon arriving at the guardian stones, Loki didn't even have to think twice about which stone to choose. He walked straight over and placed his hands on the Thief and watched as the stone lit up in a magical glow. Ralof and Hadvar both gave Loki a very disapproving look as he walked back between the two and proceeded down the road.

"It's not too late to change your path, my friend," Hadvar said in an almost reprimanding voice; "You can still choose a life of honor."

"It doesn't mean I'm an actual thief, Hadvar. I am just really going to need the skill set that is supported by that stone, particularly the stealth and alchemy traits, for our upcoming quests. We have a lot of preparation to do."

"We?" Ralof asked, sounding a bit surprised. "Are we just supposed to abandon our duties to our armies and follow you without any permission or leave from our superiors? We'll both be on the block for desertion and treason."

Loki stopped in his tracks just outside the makeshift wall/guard tower at the edge of town, turned on his heels and faced both men with a look of pure frustration. "Look, I realize you two are both duty bound to your respective militaries in this petty little conflict over who gets to rule your land and tell everyone else how to live. It's a war that has been fought countless times by countless armies in countless lands on ever world and every plane of oblivion, always over who gets to be in charge. Well this time there's another player, and his goal isn't to be in charge, but to devour it all and end your world. If he does that, it won't matter if you supported Ulfric or Elisif or Tullius or anybody else because there will be nobody left to support anybody. Am I starting to get through those thick Nord skulls of yours yet? After what just happened, anyone who doesn't report in will be assumed killed in action in Helgen, so you will have plenty of time to help me with my quest without being deemed a deserter. Now, if what I've learned from the Elder Scrolls is correct, then I know what we need to do next, and I'm going to need help to do it." Townsfolk had begin to take notice of the strange sight at the edge of town of a young stranger scolding an Imperial and a Stormcloak soldier as if they were children fighting over a toy. Most had stopped what they were doing and were watching as Loki continued his rant. He turned and looked at the people standing on their porches and stopped in the street. He raised a hand and pointed through the middle of town. "Do you see these people here? Your families, your friends, your neighbors… Do you see what it is we're going to be fighting to save? Only we won't be fighting to save them from treasonous rebels who want to be the rulers themselves, it won't be from oppression and tyranny of a puppet empire being controlled by the Aldmeri Dominion, it will be from annihilation by the World Eater himself. If you two want to call yourself true Nords, then you will fight for them regardless of what the political ramifications are. These people need you, and I need you to help me help them. Can I count on you for that?"

Ralof and Hadvar looked at Loki and then looked past him at the people gathered outside. Loki could see the men's eyes as they looked from person to person seeing all the people they cared for and realizing that all of this lay in the balance. They then looked at each other, steeled their decisions, and nodded.

Hadvar broke the silence, "We are with you, Loki of Asgard. What would you have us do?"

"First, we need supplies: Food, water, neutral armor so we can travel without being a target of either side, and coin. Talk to your families, gather what you can, and meet me in the inn at first light. Get a good rest gentlemen, because tomorrow we rewrite destiny."

As they walked through town, Loki couldn't help but notice it was bigger than he expected. He reasoned to himself that it must be like turning a book into a movie, some things must be left out or it would be too big to put on disc. Riverwood was a beautiful town situated on the river that ran between the mountains. The air was crisp and the sound of the running water was so peaceful that he instantly fell in love with the place. There were more buildings and more people than he knew from playing the game. He was grateful to see ones he knew though, to reassure him that it was still the lore he was used to. The first ones he noticed were Hilde and Sven, Sven trying to calm his mother who was sounding like a crazy woman saying she had seen a dragon fly over. Loki couldn't help but intercede on Hilde's behalf and tell them she wasn't crazy, that the dragon she saw had just burned Helgen to the ground and they barely escaped with their lives. Then, while Ralof went to greet his sister over by the mill, Loki followed Hadvar to Alvor's forge to see about getting some different armor.

After getting fitted with a new set of armor and a fine steel war axe in trade for the imperial armor, two iron swords, and his word to convince the Jarl to send a garrison to defend Riverwood; Loki headed over to the Riverwood trader to see about getting a few potions and inquire about a recent break-in several townsfolk had mentioned. He decided to keep the nice steel dagger he had taken off the head torturer. He accepted the quest to find the claw mostly because he knew he was going to need it anyway and wanted to make sure Camilla didn't actually try to go after it herself. Upon meeting Camilla for the first time, Loki understood why Sven and Faendal were competing for her affections. She had a beauty that made even her simple dress look absolutely elegant. He did, however, tell Camilla and Lucan that he would not be coming straight back due to more pressing matters, and would have to return it to them on his next visit which might be a while.

As he left the Trader, he passed Faendal outside, no doubt on his way to try to woo Camilla. He had to really fight not to laugh at the image of Faendal with Camilla when he realized Oblivion had described Bosmer much better than Skyrim as Faendal was only about four and a half feet tall (137cm). He used some of the coin he had picked up from the dead soldiers in helgen, the dead mage in the cage, and the skeleton in the tunnel to buy a few supplies for the quest and get a room at the inn for the night along with a nice meal. Alvor had offered him to stay with them for the night, but he declined, not wanting to impose seeing as they only had enough beds for themselves and Hadvar. Also, he had a feeling Dorthe would talk his ears off wanting to hear about the dragon, so he left that storytelling to her cousin. He had a hard time holding his expressions as Delphine asked for more information about the dragon attack. Word had spread through town like wildfire after the display he made in front of the whole town earlier, and of course Delphine wanted to know more. It was all Loki could do not to let her know that he knew who she was and what she was, but he didn't want her knowing who he was yet, so he digressed to just play the guy in the wrong place at the right time. He went to his room and laid down reliving the events of the day in his mind. An avid gamer in his own world, he couldn't help but think of his favorite quote from another game: "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world…" as he faded off to sleep, completely exhausted.


	3. Chapter 3 - Rewriting Destiny

Loki snapped awake to the sound of knocking on the doorframe of his room. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed at still being here. On the one hand, he had loved the Elder Scrolls video games and really wanted to see just how deep this rabbit hole went, but on the other hand he was starting to get worried about if he would ever see home again. His family, his friends, were they missing him? Did they even know he was gone? These people in Skyrim didn't even know his real name. If something happened to him here, they would never even know who he was…

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, it came again, bringing him out of his existential crisis.

"Loki, You awake yet? Me and Hadvar are ready." he heard Ralof say from outside the door.

"Yeah, I'm up. Just lost in thought." He replied. "Lemme get my armor on and I'll be out. What time is it?"

"It's half past five. It's getting late." Hadvar answered.

"Late? You forget I'm not military. I'm actually a college student, anything before noon is considered early for me." Loki felt the need to yawn just from the mention of the time.

Loki came out of his room, walked over and sat down at the table Ralof and Hadvar were sitting at just as Delphine was asking if anyone wanted breakfast. Each ordered a decent meal to get the day started. Looking around the room he saw Embry passed out in the corner from a long night of drinking. As they were eating, the soldiers began to ask more about their new partner.

"You said you're in a college, is it like a mages or bards college?" Hadvar asked.

"Not exactly. Where I'm from no one knows how to use magic. It's more like where you learn to be a businessman or a doctor or some people study how people think so they can help people who have been traumatized, stuff like that."

"If no one where you're from can use magic, how do you know how?" Ralof puzzled.

"Another thing I learned from the scrolls I guess, I'm still not very good." Loki decided to test himself a bit and tried to retrieve the butter from across the table with a telekinesis spell. It didn't move. "Guess I don't know that spell yet. I need to find some spell books."

"Alright, so the scrolls have shown you what's coming, what do you plan to do about it? And how do we fit in?" Asked Hadvar.

Loki looked around to make sure Delphine was nowhere in range of hearing and then began. "Well, according to the Elder Scrolls, the only person who can defeat Alduin is something called a Dragonborn, like the Septim Emperors, Saint Alessia, and Reman Cyrodiil. If Akatosh has allowed Alduin to return then he will have also provided a Dragonborn to fulfill the prophecy. In ancient times the Akaviri dragon hunters had a temple in the Reach, on top of the Karthspire mountain. Our best bet to learn to fight dragons and find a Dragonborn is to start there. We need to pick up a few things in Bleak Falls Barrow on the way though: a golden claw and a stone tablet."

Hadvar looked at Loki as if he had just ruined his day. "You just want to go into that barrow because I told you it gave me nightmares as a kid, don't you? You're an ass."

Loki snickered a little knowing the thought had crossed his mind when Hadvar mentioned it on the way from Helgen yesterday.

"It's nothing personal Hadvar, we need those artifacts and I don't want to have to come back this way before heading to Whiterun from Karthspire. I would love to just drop the stone off in Whiterun on our way to the Reach, but according to the 'visions' the scrolls gave me, we will face our next dragon as soon as I deliver the stone tablet. If there's a chance I can force fate to wait, I am going to try."

Hadvar and Ralof exchanged a look that conveyed both _We need to get this done,_ as well as _What in Oblivion have we gotten ourselves into?_ Loki finished off his meal, stood, and picked up his helmet. He had gone with the scaled light armor with Iron covered boots and gauntlets. Having not been able to resist the canon of the Elder Scrolls V, he had chosen an iron horned helmet. Looking at the helmet, he smiled to himself at the thought that there was a good chance he just might be the Dragonborn in this story. His smile got even bigger when the thought crossed his mind of acquiring a Thalmor's robes and the Mask of Clavicus Vile to really give life to his chosen name. Unfortunately no one in Tamriel would be able to get the correlation since none of them knew either Norse mythology from Earth nor Marvel Universe Villains.

They gathered their supplies and walked out of the Sleeping Giant. Camilla was on the porch of the Riverwood Trader and waved to the three. "Good luck out there, be careful, and return safely." she called to them as she smiled and waved. Loki returned the wave with his thanks.

As they crossed the bridge and began up the winding path, Loki began to summon fire spells to his hands and practiced burning the rocks as he walked by them. After that he tried sparks, which he found made his fingers tingle a lot more. He could feel the spells draining the energy from his body, and then the energy returning slowly after he stopped. He knew this was going to take some getting used to. He also needed to acquire some enchanted items to fortify his magicka and his health regeneration. He may not have health points like in the game, but he figured if he could get a strong enough health regeneration enchantment he could effectively become as invulnerable as Wolverine from the X-men, with wounds healing as fast as they are made.

The path wound back and forth up the side of the mountain. Ralof and Hadvar were leading since they both knew this area like their own backyard. Loki was still playing with spells in his hands trying to figure out which ones he could and couldn't do yet and pondering on the lore of how to shout. He thought to himself _Anyone can shout if they can speak the word, and meditate on it until they understand it fully, so maybe I can use some words before go up against_ _Mirmulnir. Hell, I know most of the words already, surely i have to be able to understand one or two. Maybe Fus or Yol? Fire and force are easy to unde….._

Just as Loki had rounded the corner he was slammed back to reality by a crashing weight hitting him from the right side. He heard a growling snarl and all he could see was teeth as a large, dark-gray wolf stood on top of him and clamped his jaws down over Loki's helmet right over the eye socket. Even though he had just been practicing his spells, Loki hesitated and panicked. Ralof put an arrow into the beast's side, but it only stunned it. Luckily it was enough to let Loki collect his head and react. He light both his palms up in blue lightning and then reached up and placed them on the wolf's chest, dual casting the spell as soon as he touched it. The bolts of electricity went through the wolf's heart like a defibrillator and stopped it instantly. He was very glad to know that in THIS Skyrim, a critical hit was from proper placement, not a percentage chance.

As they neared the watchtower they could see two bandits outside, one standing by a tree and one by the door. Ralof looked at Hadvar and said "Remember when we hunted together as boys? The time we saw two deer and we wanted to get both deer without scaring the other one off when we shot."

"I remember well," Hadvar replied. "We had enough meat to feed both our families for two months. Those were the biggest stags I'd ever seen. I know what you have in mind. The one on the tree is mine"

With that the two Nords nocked their bows and drew. Ralof counted "one, two…" and on three they loosed their arrows. Both bandits went down simultaneously, having never heard the arrows hit. As they lowered their bows, both Nords glanced towards each other and each cracked a bit of a smile. This was the kind of war that turned brother against brother, and Loki had been right when he gambled on there being more to these two than just neighbors in the same town, but he had no time discuss with these two what they had given up following their lords, Tullius and Ulfric.

With his dagger in one hand and his axe in the other he eased his way through the door. Seeing nothing but a chair and small table he crept up the stairs and out to the ramp up the outside. The boards creaked and Loki was certain he was going to be heard, but somehow he made it to the next level without anyone hearing him. Another barren floor, except a few barrels of mead and cheese.

 _How do these guys live like this? Freezing cold, barely any food or drink. Surely they can't expect to have many people come by hear to rob, unless they are going to make an offering to the ancestors in the barrow, and that can't be frequent. I think I'd pick a better place._

As he crept up the stairs he finally saw him. One lone archer at the top of the tower, perched on a chest, sound asleep. _Really dude? Worst bandit ever! Ok man, it's time to do this. No pushing buttons and watching screen animations this time, this one is for real. You've really got to kill him. Com'on now, you've seen it done thousands of times in the games, in the movies, you know what to do, just do it._

He snuck up right beside the sleeping bandit, so close he could hear him breathing. _Stab him in the throat! Just DO IT already!_ Rearing back Loki stabbed the blade into the archer's neck. Despite shaking from nervousness, he actually managed to sever the jugular. The bandit came awake in a panic and Loki pulled the dagger out as he jumped backward away from the flailing man who was spraying blood like a sprinkler system. Blood was up Loki's arm all the way to his elbow.

With one hand over his neck and the other drawing his own blade the bandit started to stumble toward Loki, who had retreated back down the steps. Luckily for Loki, he had lost so much blood so quickly that on his second step down he fell sideways off the stairs, landed on his head, and broke his neck. Loki stared at the body lying there for what seemed like an eternity before Hadvar brought him back by calling his name.

"First time, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, is it that obvious?"

Hadvar just grinned, "Oh yeah. Don't worry, you did good, most men lose their breakfast the first time they kill a man."

"Still not sure I won't." Loki looked closely at the man he had just ended, then asked: "Hadvar, how do you sleep at night knowing that a man will never have another day, never see his family again, never wake up again... because of you?"

Hadvar walked over and placed his hand on Loki's shoulder and quietly said:

"My Uncle Alvor once told me that a man who has nightmares and can't sleep over his kills is because he has guilt and regret for what he has done. Whether he has killed innocents, murdered someone in cold blood….sheepishly Sent a man to the block who didn't deserve it…. I'm glad that dragon saved you, because he also saved me from a guilty conscience. cough, voice returns to normal ...that man has doubts that he was doing the right thing, and he feels guilty for it. This man, however, deserved what he got. There's no telling how many innocent lives he's taken, maids he's violated, children who've gone hungry because he stole all the family had. You did the right thing, and you were just in your actions. Never pity these brigands, and never loath yourself for ending them. Sleep soundly tonight knowing Skyrim is a little safer because he is no longer in it."

Hadvar walked up the stairs and opened the chest the archer had been sleeping on to see if it had anything useful "Oh, Loki, get his bow and arrows so you don't have to get so close next time. You made it way too personal for as inexperienced as you are with killing."

"I see our young bird is learning to fly." Ralof ascended the stairs having finished looting the bandits below of anything they were carrying of value. "Good kill, but we need to keep going, Bleak Falls is just around the corner."

As they reached the barrow snow began to fall all around them. Loki advised a stealth approach expecting more bandits at the barrow, so they crept up towards the stairs.

They spotted the first patrolling bandit on a ledge overlooking Riverwood. A quiet arrow from Ralof's bow sent the man down the side of the mountain without so much as a goodbye. Next there were two women walking along the steps up by the entrance to the barrow. They weren't close enough to be heard yet so Loki whispered to the others:

"I don't think I can kill a woman guys, it just doesn't seem right."

"Well, my friend," said Ralof, "those women would have absolutely no problem slicing you open to get every single thing you're carrying and depending on how long they've been out here, they might even skin you up like a deer and eat you. You might want to kill them first, get my drift?"

"Yeah, I do." Having been raised to believe in chivalry, Loki still despised the thought of hurting a woman, but this was not his world, and not his rules. He nocked his bow, took aim, and loosed an arrow, catching the closer one dead center of the back, severing her spine, just as Hadvar shot the other one through the neck.

"Damn! Nice shot! I think we may have found your talent. Where did you learn to do that?" Ralof was clearly impressed with Loki's archery.

"My mother used to insist that I get my nose out of my books and go outside at least a couple of hours each day as a child. I had a little recurve bow and it was one of the few things i could do in our neighborhood that didn't make a lot of noise."

"Well at least we know you have that skill to fall back on in a fight, or maybe keep you out of one and end it before your opponent knows you're there."

Loki couldn't help but laugh to himself, _stealth archer AGAIN!_

"Alright guys, let's get inside and out of this cold." Loki said trying to sound motivational.

"I'd be willing to bet it's going to chill our blood a lot worse once we get down inside this crypt." Hadvar mumbled, pushing open the door. "Dragons, barrows… how many more of my childhood nightmares am I going to have to face this week?!"


	4. Chapter 4 - Becoming an Adventurer

Loki was unsure what to make of the scene as the unlikely band of adventurers entered Bleak Falls Barrow. The bandits patrolling outside indicated this was going to be a large group here to loot the barrow, so they proceeded with caution expecting to encounter more trouble from the group, but also hopeful that they had cleared plenty of the traps in the barrow.

As they entered the foyer of the ancient ruin with their weapons at the ready, they didn't know what to make of the scene. There were dead skeevers everywhere, and a few dead bandits who had obviously been viciously attacked by the oversized rodents. Loki walked over and examined one of the big rats. It was roughly the size of a large dog, maybe a rottweiler. This thing made a New York sewer rat look like a baby mouse.

Just as Ralof was about to search one of the dead bandits for anything useful he might have been carrying, he heard a commotion coming from near the corridor at the back of the foyer. He scouted ahead in the large room to discover two bandits by a makeshift campsite. Having already decided to take a stealthy approach to this since they didn't know how large a group they were facing, Ralof motioned to Hadvar to indicate two enemies and their location. The two Nords nocked their bows and dispatched the brigands quickly and quietly.

A fast search of the room and the bodies for anything useful and then they set off down the entrance shaft. Hadvar was less than pleased to find huge spiderwebs covering the way. They went down a slightly winding descent, and much of the stairs were covered in roots making walking without tripping difficult. Reaching the bottom they came upon a room. Loki motioned for everyone to stop and stay quiet while he snuck forward to the entrance of the room where he witnessed a single bandit throw a lever to open the portcullis blocking the way and get shot dead by a dart trap.

Once the coast was clear, he called to the Nords to follow.

"I suppose you knew that was going to happen already." Hadvar said, looking over the misfortunate bandit.

"Yes, I did. But what I don't understand is why the gate was down. I know there are another bandit farther in which means he had to come through here. Why relock it? Unless the one that went on through intended to escape out the rear exit and cut the others out of their share of whatever loot he finds."

"That really wouldn't surprise me," said Hadvar, "thieves don't exactly keep an honorable code, even with each other."

"No honor amongst thieves, I know." Loki said. "Ok, we need to set the pillars to open the gate. Snake, snake, whale."

"Did your visions from the Elder Scrolls tell you that too?" Ralof inquired rather sarcastically.

"No, it's right there on the wall, and the missing one is laying on the floor over there. The only puzzle here is how that dumbass didn't figure it out." Loki pointed up and then rolled his eyes at Ralof.

They set the pillars and pulled the lever, and proceeded through the next room and down the stairwell only to be greeted by skeevers, live ones this time. The three made quick work of the rodents with a few arrows, but didn't make it much further down the corridor before hearing someone calling for help.

Ralof started to run towards the voice, but Loki stopped him. "The voice you here is the thief who robbed Lucan. Arvel the Swift they call him. He will have the claw we are looking for. Oh, and guys, watch the ceiling." Loki nocked his bow and slowly eased down the hall.

As they eased into the next room, they saw a man bound between the doorposts on the opposite side, there was nothing else in the room but spider egg sacs. Then Loki saw it, clinging high on the wall was a spider the size of a Volkswagen. It must have had a 30 foot leg span.

"HOLY SHIT!" Hadvar had noticed it too. "Maybe we can sneak by it, like we did the bear escaping Helgen."

"We can try, I just hope he isn't hungry right now." Ralof was also visibly nervous at the sight of the arachnid.

As they eased their way across the room Hadvar kept his bow aimed at the huge spider on the wall, Ralof continually scanned the rest of the room for any more spiders, and Loki went to assess the situation with Arvel. He was wrapped up pretty good and most of the doorway was blocked so the first thing loki did was cut a hole at the bottom for the three to slip through and get behind Arvel and out of the room with the huge predator.

"Cut me down" Arvel protested when he realized the three were not very concerned about him.

"Give me the claw," said loki, "then I will consider it."

"Do I look like I can move?"

"No, but tell me where it is, I'll get it, then I'll cut you down. With a name like 'the swift' i can only imagine you will run as soon as you are free."

"Fine, it's in my bag on my right side."

Loki cut through the web to get to the bag, cut the straps and removed it, then turned to walk away.

"HEY! You can't just leave me here! CUT ME DOWN!"

"I'd be a little more quiet if I were you, sound and movement in the web is what attracts the spider to come inject you with venom. You robbed the good people of Riverwood, this seems a fitting karma."

"NO! NO! YOU CAN'T… YOU CANT LEAVE ME HERE! HOW COULD YOU… AAHHHH" Arvel was squirming as hard as he could against the webbing when all of a sudden, he stopped and screamed in pain. The spider was on the other side of the web with both his fangs sunk into Arvel's shoulders pumping him full of digestive venom.

Loki and the others backed away, then turned and took off in a run until they got to to a crypt room. The three adventurers froze in their tracks as three of the dead Nord warriors rose from their resting places and drew their weapons.

Hadvar and Ralof met the draugr in true warrior fashion with sword and shield in melee combat. Loki, on the other hand began firing arrows at the one coming in his direction, surprisingly sticking most of them in the dead man's abdomen and shoulders with two shots bouncing off the chestplate of it's armor.

"How the hell do you kill something that is already dead?!" Loki exclaimed as he evaded the zombie warrior while sticking more arrows in it. In a final, desperate attempt to stop it's relentless pursuit, Loki stuck an arrow directly through the draugr's eye socket. It dropped immediately. "Of course, I should have known. Every zombie flick ever, hit them in the head…"

About that time Hadvar did a reverse spin and decapitated his opponent while Ralof cleaved the legs in two on his and, once on the ground, drove his sword through the back of it's head.

Loki sat down against a column to catch his breath while having serious second thoughts about if he knew what he was doing. He had evaded well, but there were a couple of times that draugr got very close to making contact with that rusty iron war axe he was swinging. He decided to take a different approach to these opponents, so he put away his bow, drew his sword in his right hand, and summoned his fire to his left. He had gotten pretty good at it on the way to the barrow, now it was time to put his magic to the real test.

They continued down through the winding crypts fighting the dead defenders of the barrow until they came to a hallway full of swinging blades.

"Great, how do we get through this?" asked Hadvar with a very worried look on his face.

"Only one of us has to do it," said Loki. "See, there is a chain on the other side to stop them. Don't worry, I got this."

With that, Loki began moving through the blades, one at a time, staying tight to the left wall so that as the blade left the wall he would have maximum time to move forward before the blade could get back to his position. He got through rather quickly, though it actually took him longer to pull the chain due to all the time it had sat idle. It took his entire body weight to pull it.

Just down the corridor were 4 more draugr, but Loki noticed that the place was covered in oil from the lamps overhead. _Oh, I've been waiting to do this!_ he thought to himself as he launched fire into the oil and watched the draugr burn and drop.

Further down, and further still, they began to think there was no end to this ancient ruin. They came to a part where the corridor had collapsed but instead of clearing it, someone had made a detour through some caves. One of these areas included a frost troll. Loki was terrified, knowing how strong and regenerative these beasts were, but the three of them took it down with two quick volleys of arrows. Six hits that fast was too much for the troll to regenerate from.

As the trio came back into the corridor on the other side of the cave-in they spotted a lone guard in front of the door to the sanctum. Ralof readied to attack, but Loki stopped him. "I need the practice." He drew his sword and readied his shield. "Just cover me in case I screw up."

When the draugr noticed him, he drew his sword and approached Loki. He was also carrying a shield and the two began the warrior's dance of death. Loki remembered what he had read in "The Mirror" about defensive combat and did his best to read his opponent's movements. He blocked his opponent's attacks and if he saw his opponent tense his shield arm he would hold his own attacks and conserve his energy. After a few minutes he realized that the draugr always attacked from the top with a downward swing. The next time he swung Loki blocked the blade high while simultaneously swinging low horizontally severing the draugr's right leg just above the knee. This move dropped the draugr behind Loki face down. As it pushed back up on its hands Loki took a step back and swung a backhanded slash through his neck, beheading him and ending the fight.

"That was excellent form, where did you learn to do that?" Hadvar asked, very impressed with the rookie warrior's victory.

"From a book, and maybe a few ideas from the thousands of 'visions' I've had from the scrolls. I'm also really lucky that the dead aren't as fast as the living, kinda the reason I wanted to practice on him. Thanks for keeping me covered though, he could still hit pretty hard for a dead guy."

They continued on, fighting draugr and avoiding traps until they came to a simple looking door that opened to reveal a long, wide hallway.

"The hall of stories…" Ralof said in awe. "The panels on these walls tell the stories of our ancestors, their battles and conquests."

"I really wish we had time to check them out, but we need to get this over with." Hadvar said as he looked at one of the panels. "Perhaps one day after the war is over I'll come back and take a look."

"I thought the barrow creeped you out." Ralof jested, nudging Hadvar's shoulder with his shield hand.

"Yeah, it did, but now i know what's really in here. It's not as bad as I thought when I was a child. Except that spider, that thing has to die!"

While the two Nords were talking and looking around the hall, Loki was examining the door to figure out how to move the rings. He tried gripping the emblems on the ring and spinning it, but he couldn't get it to budge. Then, he pushed in on the ring. To his surprise the ring rotated to the next symbol on it's own. Loki couldn't tell if it was some sort of mechanical motion from inside the door or some kind of magical enchantment that moved the ring, but he didn't think he should take the time to figure it out now. He set the rings in order with the symbols on the claw and then activated the lock. The door opened with a grinding protest, then it was up the stairs and into the main burial chamber.

As they walked up to the platform with the sarcophagus Loki tensed up his sword arm. The Nords picked up on this and prepared for a fight, but as they reached the sarcophagus nothing happened. Loki turned to the word wall. He could feel the power emanating from the ancient language written on the wall and he started walking toward it in an almost trance-like state. The feeling of power turned to chanting as he got closer, then, all of a sudden, everything went black and it felt like the words were being burned into his mind. It was nothing like the game, one word at a time, but every word on the wall. He felt them in his mind and he knew their translation to his own tongue.

He turned back to his companions still blind from the power of the wall. His vision returned just in time to see the lid of the sarcophagus go flying into the air and a very angry draugr climb out. The sound of the lid bursting off was enough to make the Nords turn and poise for battle.

"FUS RO DAH"

The three were slammed into the wall hard as the draugr bellowed the shout at them. They pulled themselves up and charged into the fight, the Nord soldiers going wide to get on either side of this powerful opponent and Loki charged straight up the middle. The draugr swung his axe and planted it directly in the center of Loki's raised shield, but what happened next was something loki never expected. His shield turned so cold the moisture in the air began to turn to frost on it, the cold went through his gauntlet into his arm and traveled most of the way up his shoulder. The freezing pain as the chilled blood in his arm ran into his body was bad, but it was nothing compared to the burning sensation of the hot blood in his body being pumped into the frozen limb.

The draugr pulled his axe back and Loki's shield with it and with a quick flick he sent the shield flying across the chamber. Loki was down on one knee, the draugr about to take his second swing when not one but two blades burst from the corpse's chest. Hadvar and Ralof had run him through from behind with a power charge to ensure the blades went all the way through armor and all.

As the draugr went down from the shear impact Loki stumbled back to safety. Looking down at his arm he found it had turned extremely purple and he knew he had severe frostbite. He didn't have time to try to heal himself with magic so he grabbed the flask of healing potion he had ready on his belt and chugged it.

The draugr stood back up as the feeling came back to Loki's hand. He felt fear well up in his chest, but then a thought hit him that he figured he might as well gamble on. He knew the words, he knew the meanings, and now he had felt the thu'um of Unrelenting Force. Just maybe, he had the understanding to be able to do it without a dragon soul. Ulfric could do it, other non-dragonborn could too, and his knowledge of the thu'um was far better than some beginner. Hell, he already knew how to read the dragon language. (Yes, he was an ultra-nerd). He inhaled as deeply as he could and focused everything into his voice, trying to imagine it or will it into being just as he did with the spells in his hand.

"FUS RO da!"

The shout surged forward and knocked the draugr back several steps, forcing him back to his knees, but what happened? Something went wrong. Only two words had worked. Loki didn't understand. Did he not understand 'Da' the way he did the others? Did he lose his focus? He didn't know but he didn't have time to find out. At least he knew he actually could shout, and hopefully his first dragon would know more than one word of power so he could understand more of them.

But for now, Loki had to finish this opponent while he was down. Hadvar and Ralof had switched to their bows since their swords were both stuck in the plating of the draugr's armor and were turning his back into a pincushion. Loki grabbed his sword and charged, thrusting the blade forward through the eye socket of the helmet, but he put so much momentum into his charge he couldn't stop and went toppling over the draugr and ending up on the floor on the other side.

"Well my young friend, that has to be the clumsiest victory I've ever witnessed." Ralof was laughing as he pulled Loki to his feet. "And you shouted, just like Ulfric. Did you learn that from the scrolls as well?"

"Yes, but apparently not well enough. My last word failed. I will have to study it more in depth. Loki was now about 80% sure he was the dragonborn of the story, but he knew that even the Greybeards could hear the words from the walls and they weren't dragonborn, so he still wasn't fully confident. The blood seal would tell him for sure, then he would know.

"You learn fast, keep it up and you will become a legend."

"I don't want to be famous, I just want to keep the people safe"

Hadvar was pulling all the arrows out of the body when Loki walked over and picked up the axe that froze his arm.

"I'm claiming this. I want to learn its enchantment, it nearly cost me an arm."

"Go ahead," hadvar said, "I've never cared for all that magic stuff. I don't trust it."

"Thanks, now where is the tablet he is supposed to have?"

"Is it this thing?" Ralof lifted a stone map about 12" X 12" X ½" from the sarcophagus and handed it to Loki.

"Yes, that's the one. Now let's check that chest for loot and then get out of here"

Hadvar was staring at the wall and curiosity got the better of him. "Any idea what this says?"

"HET NOK FaaL VahLOK

DeiNMaaR DO DOVahGOLZ

ahRK aaN FUS DO UNSLaaD

RahGOL ahRK VULOM

Or in the common tongue:

Here lies the guardian

Keeper of dragonstone

And a force of unending

Rage and darkness"

Hadvar turned around amazed. "You can actually read that?"

"Yes, I learned the dragon language even before I came to Tamriel. I was a bit of a nerd and I did it for fun."

"Nerd? Is that like a scholar where you are from?"

"Umm, yeah, something like that…" Loki just rolled with it.

They emerged from the barrow near the lake and they were all glad to see the sun, though they didn't get to see it but a few minutes because it was setting.

"Well, that took a lot longer than I thought it would, I was expecting to be headed to the reach by 2 PM. How about we change up the plans since it's so late? Spend one more night in Riverwood and leave for the Karthspire in the morning."

"Suits me fine," said Hadvar. "One more night of my Aunt Sigrid's cooking before I have to eat camp food again."

"I'll second that," Ralof nodded.

So off they marched, for one last rest before their journey. Not to mention Lucan's gold for the reward would help out a lot for the travel expenses.


	5. Chapter 5 - Journey to the Reach

Loki was up and ready when the Nords arrived at the Sleeping Giant the next morning. Despite having been exhausted when he fell asleep, he had awakened in the middle of the night when the anxiety of his current situation had finally hit home. Before, it had been like a dream that felt all too real, but after nearly losing his arm to frostbite from that draugr fight, the reality of it all really hit home. _What if I had lost my arm? What if I'm stuck here forever? Why didn't 'DA' work? Just how much like the game IS this real world Skyrim? I'm actually killing real people! These aren't just 'bandit' or 'thief', these are flesh and blood people…_

His mind was running wide open and wouldn't let him sleep, so he started reading his new tomes and playing with spells to try to get his mind off the things he was becoming truly worried about. He began trying to figure out how the magic worked to begin with; how he could will the fire or the sparks into existence. Being that Riverwood and Bleak Falls Barrow had been so much more than was shown in the game, how much more was there to magic than the game allowed? And enchantments, just how far could he push the limitations? Loki was beginning to scheme some grand possibilities of what he could accomplish given his advanced knowledge of the lore, but then a thought hit him: _Just how much off course can I take the storyline before i create a cause and effect that I am not prepared for? Kinda like time travel, I know the future, but could I alter it so much I create a completely different timeline and be unable to know what happens next?_

They had already handled business trading their loot from the barrow the night before. Lucan had already closed up and was at the inn for a drink by the time they arrived, but he opened back up just for them since they were, after all, bringing his claw back. Loki asked him about spell tomes and more potions for the trip and was surprised when Lucan pointed him to an old trunk in the corner under the stairs. He found a small library of books inside, several tomes included: Telekinesis, Ironflesh, Detect Life, Detect Dead, Magelight, Fireball (he had been hoping for that one), Bound weapon (he was surprised to find that in this world the spell was not type specific, but he did not yet know why), and finally, thank the gods, a Fast Healing tome. Lucan said that since the nords don't much like magic, the books had been sitting there for years and in appreciation for returning his claw, he let Loki have the whole lot for just one sapphire. Loki asked about enchanted items too, explaining that they were about to embark on an adventure to find a dragonborn and put a stop to the dragons returning and needed all the help they could get. Lucan looked around and then said all he had like that was an amulet with a resist cold enchantment on it. Loki happily bought it.

By the time Hadvar and Ralof arrived Loki had already had Orgnar set the table with breakfast so they could get going as soon as possible.

"What is this? I thought you said you college guys were never early to rise." Ralof said jokingly.

"I had a hard time sleeping," Loki replied, "Too much on my mind."

"You weren't feeling guilty over killing those bandits were you?" Hadvar asked with concern in his tone. "I told you, you were just in what you did."

"No, no, it wasn't that. Just, all this, being in another world that was just a story to me before, it's a lot to take in in such a short time. I'm fine though, just have to process it all. I'll get there. I did get a lot of reading done in my spell tomes though, and I practiced a few. I just had to leave fireball out until later, this being a wooden inn and all…"

They ate rather quickly then got everything ready to leave, bid their farewells to family and friends and then set out in the direction of Falkreath, intent on hiring a carriage to Markarth and then hike to Karthspire. Passing a particularly scenic spot along the side of the lake, Loki remarked, "I'm going to build a manor here one day. Of all the places I've seen in my visions of Skyrim, this has always been one of my favorites."

"It is gorgeous here, so you are planning on staying after this is all over?" Ralof asked.

"I have no idea, honestly. I'm not sure if it's up to me. I don't know how I got here or why, and I don't know if I can go home or how I would go about doing it if I can. I can only take each day as it comes and make the most of it. After everything I've learned about Tamriel I'm both excited to actually be here and terrified at the same time. This land is far more dangerous than my home, as well as far more primitive, so that's a lot of extra work and responsibility that I'm not used to. To top it all off I'm from a place called Florida, which has a climate much like the southern end of Elsweyr near the coast, so this is too damn cold. Thank the gods Lucan had that amulet, it helps a lot."

"That is a lot to think about." Hadvar looked like he was still trying to get his head around the thought that this young man, who was once his prisoner, was from another realm. He reasoned it must be another realm of Oblivion just like Mundus. "I am not sure I would even know where to start with that."

They arrived in Falkreath by 9:00am and found a cart for hire. They didn't have time for Loki to look around the town like he wanted to, but he did manage to get a small look at the legendary cemetery and go to the Gray Pine Goods to see if they had anything they might need for the trip that Riverwood didn't have. Loki didn't care too much for the suspicious nature the shopkeeper, Solaf, had; and he cared even less for his brother Bolund's attitude towards non-Nords. Racist prick! They got their stuff loaded and back on the road to Markarth by 10:00am. Loki smiled a bit as they passed over a rocky ridge where he could see a small dark pool below, knowing there was a black door beneath the road. _One day!_ he thought as he pulled out one of his tomes to read on the long ride ahead. As they reached the watchtower and took a left at the junction toward the mill a small red fox darted out into the road and then turned and ran straight ahead for several meters before running back into the bushes.

"You guys seriously have a lot of foxes here"

"That we do, you can get pelts a plenty." Ralof said.

When they reached the junction with the main road to Rorikstead, Loki was amazed to see one of the dragon burial mounds on the side of the road. It wasn't broken open yet, thank the gods. They passed by Fort Sungard and as they entered the valley of the Reach they were greeted by a sabre cat on the side of the road. At the first signs of aggression they loosed arrows and quickly ended the threat. They passed several travelers along the way, mostly farmers or miners it seemed, a few imperial patrols, and they noticed a forsworn hunting party watching them from atop one of the ridges, but they never made a move to attack. Loki guessed they just didn't look interesting enough, and he was thankful for that.

As they came to the bridge near the Karthspire Loki asked the driver to stop and let them off early and said he could keep the money for the rest of the trip to Markarth as a tip, because this would mean much less walking for them.

They crossed the bridge and began to scale up the side of the mountain, trying to enter the path to Skyhaven without having to pass through the forsworn camp below. It was coming dark as they neared the entrance so sneaking in was not a problem, but once inside they discovered there were more forsworn using the cave entrance as a living quarters. Loki pulled out three potions and handed one to each of the Nords, then drank his and promptly disappeared. The Nords followed suite and with the help of the invisibility potions they snuck through the cave and out the other side to the first of the obstacles to entering the temple.

First were the three pillars.

"Do you know the combination?" Hadvar asked.

"Well, yes I do, but what I can't figure out is how no one has figured this out in 1600 years. There are only 27 possibilities. They could just spin them til they got them right." Loki set the pillars to the symbol of the dragonborn and the bridge fell.

"Maybe no one else has bothered to try."

As they crossed the bridge and proceeded to the next obstacle Loki responded to Hadvar's remark. "The lack of curiosity in this land bothers me. So much to be discovered, so few looking to find it. Like seriously, your ancient ruins are built of amazing architecture, Dwemer ruins are filled with amazing advanced technology and yet you build only log cabins for homes and live lives more primitive than they did in the 2nd era. Why is that? Other than Solitude and Whiterun, Skyrim hasn't built anything substantial in millennia, and even they are centuries old now. Why is there no ambition in this land?"

Hadvar and Ralof looked at each other rather bewildered and unsure what the answer to Loki's question was. They got really nervous as Loki just strolled out over the trap pressure plates as if it were child's play. He pulled the chain to disable the trap and they walked on in silence for a bit, the two Nords not knowing what to make of Loki calling out their people for refusing to advance and remaining quiet like scolded children.

They crossed the bridges and then entered the courtyard. Before them stood the face of Reman Cyrodiil, and at their feet the blood seal they had come to test Loki's blood on.

 _First, we need to test the seal_ Loki thought, _make sure not just anyone can open it._

"Hadvar, try your blood on the seal first."

"Ok, if you think it will work." Hadvar cut into his palm and dripped blood over the rings on the left side of the seal. Nothing happened.

"Your turn Ralof." said Loki, and Ralof did the same on the right side of the seal. Still nothing.

 _This is the moment of truth_ Loki thought as he drew out his dagger. He was hesitant to want to cut himself, the thought of pain was not appealing even if he could heal it instantly, the Fast Healing tome being the first one he had studied on the way across the Reach. He laid the blade in his palm and then pulled it down. _IT BURNS! THAT F*****G BURNS LIKE HELL!_ he screamed inside his head as the blade severed his flesh and the blood began to pool in the palm of his hand.

Loki dropped the dagger from the pain and burning sensation of the cut, but he got his head together quickly and then turned his palm down and spilled the blood on the center of the seal… nothing…

 _What the hell, I come all this way after you put me in the role of the dragonborn and I don't even have the dragon blood! What the hell am I supposed to do now? If I can't take the dragon's soul, what is the point of killing them? And who is the real dragonborn?_ Loki turned and walked halfway to the chest in the middle of the courtyard with a blank look of confusion on his face before he remembered he should probably stop the bleeding in his palm. He cast a fast healing spell and closed the wound.

Turning back to the Nords he said "I'm not really sure what to do now. I was sure that would work." Just as he finished saying those words he saw the small pool of blood he had dripped on the seal slowly ran off the top of the middle circle where he had poured it and down into the crack between the center and the first ring, then the seal began to glow.

As the face of Reman Cyrodiil began to recede into the wall and open Loki and the two Nord soldiers could only stare in amazement.

"Holy shit, it actually worked," Loki muttered to himself under his breath. "Great, now I have to figure out how to kill a vicious fire breathing dragon without dying first."

"Great, it worked!" cried Ralof in an excited voice. "This means we can find the dragonborn."

"No Ralof," said Loki in a very serious tone, "it means we just did. I'm the one who opened the seal, I'm the dragonborn."

"You mean that was it? That was the test?"

"That was it, I had a feeling it was me, but I had to be absolutely sure before I let anyone know. I didn't want to get your hopes up only to fail. Oh, hold out your palms."

They held out their cut hands and Loki cast healing magic on both of them, barely even leaving a scar.

"Now, lets get inside, get a fire going, and find a place to sleep for the night."

With that, the three adventurers entered the corridor to the ancient temple of the Blades Dragonguard.


	6. Chapter 6 - Discovering Sky Haven Temple

Entering the doors of the temple, Loki had to cast magelights along the long ascending hallway to keep from tripping on the uneven steps. They barred the doors in case some wandering forsworn realized the bridges were down and the entrance was unsealed and decided to investigate. As they exited the corridor and entered the main chamber the lights from the hallway could barely penetrate into the darkness of the huge room. Loki summoned up the biggest ball of light he could muster and cast it directly into the center of the ceiling, lighting up the chamber like it was a huge chandelier. The three stood and stared at what they had just discovered for several moments before they could even come up with words to express their amazement at the detail of architecture of the Akaviri.

"The quarters should be this way." Loki began leading around the left side of the room and up the stairs to the living chambers. Once there, he lit a fire in the fireplace to warm the room and get ready to heat up some food for the evening meal.

 _If I ever do go home, I'm really going to miss magic. I already know I'm spoiled on setting things on fire at will._

He stowed his gear in a chest next to the bed he had chosen, making sure it was still sturdy enough to not crumble to pieces before putting his weight on it.

"I swear it seems like the magic that sealed this temple off for the last 1600 years must have served to preserve it against time as well as intruders. It's as if it could have been occupied last week. Even the stack of firewood is perfectly preserved, not rotted or crumbling."

"It is amazing the condition this place is in. Are you sure it's been that long since it was locked?" Hadvar asked.

"According to the lore, it was sealed some time around 1E 2818, after the completion of Alduin's Wall, that big mural we saw in the main chamber. I know there is a lot to explore in this temple and we need to take time to go through it properly, but there is one thing that I must go look for tonight or I'm not going to be able to sleep thinking about it." With that, Loki lit another magelight and stuck it above his head and went off looking for the armory.

It took a little longer to find than he expected, there were more rooms to look in than there were in the game. Loki noted that there was a library and planned to start his exploration there in the morning. He also noted a storage room with what appeared to be apothecary supplies and what appeared to be a gym. _Guess the dragonguard had to do something to stay in shape during the siege of the temple._

At last he found the door to the armory and walked inside. There were racks of katanas and dai-katanas, racks of shields, racks of bows, bins of arrows, and stands of armor. There must have been hundreds. Whatever the troop count of the dragonguard was, it must have been a small army. As he looked through the room and all the armaments within, Loki noticed a large wardrobe at the back corner of the room made of what appeared to be a beautifully stained cedar wood. Flipping the latch and opening the double doors on the front of the wardrobe, Loki stood in awe of what he found inside.

This set of armor made him think of some of the craftsmanship of the Japanese samurai from his own world. It was formed from dragon scales mounted over what appeared to be ebony chainmail to protect completely while providing maximum range of motion and being as lightweight as possible. The large scale in the center of the chest bore the Akaviri symbol of the dragonborn. The scales were highly polished, but darkened somehow and the backs were covered in a type of felt to prevent them from making noise by hitting each other. The inside of the armor was padded with a satin type covering to comfort the wearer and also soften blows.

 _I wonder if it's flame retardant as well?_

The helmet was carved from a single piece of dragon bone, smoothed and darkened just like the scales, and also padded and covered in a felt material inside for comfort. The image of a dragon was carved over the top of the helmet with the neck and head forming the nose guard. A leather chin strap was also there to keep it on your head during a fight.

On a simple wooden stand in front of the armor was what Loki had come looking for. Ever so reverently, he reached down and took Dragonbane. As he drew the blade from the saya (sheath) electrical sparks crackled and jumped up and down the blade. The tsuba (hand guard), a coiled serpent, seemed to be made of bronze, so Loki assumed it was dwarven metal. The tsuka (hilt) was wrapped in leather with a bronze capped kashira (pommel). The blade felt lighter than steel, then he remembered it was made of quicksilver.

Loki felt like a kid at Christmas who had just gotten the new toy he had been asking for all year. Studying the samurai culture and history had been one of his favorite subjects growing up, and katanas were his all time favorite weapon ever made, so Dragonbane instantly became Loki's most prized possession EVER.

 _How many dragons have you slain? I hope I don't disappoint and lose before you slay another. Mirmulnir will be waiting for us soon._

He let out a heavy sigh, feeling the pressure of expectation and destiny without the benefit of 'quick save', then he slid the crackling blade back into the saya and placed it back on the stand. Loki stared at the Dragonborn armor for a long time, contemplating if he would be able to live up to this, before closing and latching the wardrobe.

 _Knowing what to do and when to do it is quite the advantage, but I'm still no athlete. Will I be strong enough to drive Dragonbane through a dragon's scales? Where do i even hit it to cause critical damage? I hope that library has some information on how I'm supposed to do this. Hey, if they prophesied all of this stuff to come, maybe they foresaw the last dragonborn being from another world and having absolutely no warrior training to start with and no idea what he's doing. One can only hope._

Loki rejoined his Nord companions in the living quarters where they were just getting the food off of the fire. What felt like hours Loki had been away was actually only about an hour and a half.

Find what you were looking for? Ralof asked.

"I did, in fact I found a whole lot more than I could have expected. I was looking for a special sword of the dragonborn called Dragonbane, but what I found was an entire complement of armor and weapons made for the dragonborn leader of the dragon guard. I plan to try the armor on tomorrow, but first I want to explore the temple library I found. Hopefully they have some information on how I'm supposed to kill one of these big, flying lizards. There's enough armor and weapons in there for us to rebuild the Blades into a small army. It's like they stocked a time capsule with everything we need to rebuild the Dragon Guard and prepare for the return of the dragons"

"There you go again with that 'Us' talk, we agreed to help take down Alduin for the good of all of Mundus, but after that we are still bound to our armies." Ralof said with a bit of a sneer.

"Yes, I know, your political armies led by your mortal lords to gain them power and control. Fighting over which master you wish to be a slave to. What I'm suggesting is that you stop fighting for the lords and start fighting for the people, for their right to survive, for their right to live in safety from those who only want to tell others how they can live. I'm not going to demand it of you, ever, but I want to bring peace and prosperity back to the people of Skyrim by eliminating everything that is threatening that, namely the dragons and the Thalmor; and I would like it if you two would be by my side to help me do that, as my Colonels or Legate or whatever you want to call that rank. I know there are a few Blades remaining out there. Delphine was apparently the acting grandmaster when they were disbanded. They will probably come back and join us as well, but I trust you two and you work so well together, I'd rather have you leading my Blades."

"That's a lot to think about. And Delphine was a Blade? I knew there was something that woman was hiding. She always seemed like she had a much deeper past than an innkeeper."

"I know, don't feel rushed or pressured. Like I said, it's an offer, and I would appreciate it if the two of you would consider it. And yeah, I don't think she's going to like me being the dragonborn very much."

Ralof looked over at Hadvar who was devouring a piece of venison to sate his hunger from spending the entire day on the road. "You've been quiet through this whole conversation Hadvar, what do you have to say about this?"

Hadvar looked Ralof in the eye and, with one of the most serious expressions Ralof had ever seen him make, told him: "I have served the empire loyally for years thinking that their support was in the best interests of the people of Skyrim. I followed their orders even when I did not understand the purpose those orders were given hoping that someone higher than me had given it enough thought to ensure that I was doing the right thing, but then, two days ago, I was ordered to carry out an execution of a bunch of 'traitors'. Among those traitors was a stranger who I later found out was both innocent of any crime, AND the dragonborn sent to stop the world's end; but also among them was my childhood best friend who, though I felt had betrayed our people, had only done what he felt was right for those people. If that dragon hadn't stopped me from following orders, I would have sent people to the block who didn't deserve to die. I may be deemed a deserter or a traitor for this, but I don't think I can take orders from the empire any longer. It just doesn't feel morally right anymore. I don't know if I am good enough to be a Legate, but I'll give this my best."

Loki could have sworn he saw Ralof get teary eyed for a second while Hadvar was talking, but surely it was just dust in the soldier's eyes, right?!

"Well, when you put it that way, you have a point about this war. Maybe we should take up a different fight instead, against the enemies of the people." Ralof finished his food and sat in thought for several moments.

Loki broke the long silence, "As I said before, don't rush to a decision. We have a few days here to prepare before we return to Whiterun to face destiny with the dragons. Get some sleep and think things through."

Despite the exhausting day of travel, Loki slept lightly through the night. The anticipation of discovery had him waiting for the dawn like a child awaits Christmas morning. He was up as soon as there was enough light in the chamber to see. He lit the fire and started brewing a tea with leaves he had bought from Lucan. Lucan told him they came from a khajiit caravan, but he couldn't even begin to pronounce the name of the plant. It smelled very potent though and Loki hoped it would give him the energy he was going to need for today. Hadvar and Ralof were not as willing to start the day without a proper breakfast so they stayed in the living chamber to cook while Loki took his tea and ventured down into the main atrium.

Entering the large chamber nearly took Loki's breath. _Bethesda ain't got shit on this!_ Carved into the peak of the mountain, the temple was lit with skylights made of some sort of crystals. There were four of them around the room and each made of so many crystals that the light refraction filled the entire room easily. The skylight in front of the mural of Alduin's wall had the crystals set up in such a way that they amplified the light shining on the wall. The great table in the center of the room was carved right out of the rock of the mountain. It was connected at the end closest the mural to what appeared to be a type of stage and was extra wide with a walkway down the middle for servers or speakers.

Loki walked over and studied the mural for a few minutes, deciphering the events in the lore he knew, but there was much more. Looked like he was going to have to wait for Esbern to get here to explain the rest to him. Finishing off his tea, which he found to be very refreshing, Loki headed back for a refill and then off to the library.

The Library was amazing to say the least, rows of shelves filled with books of lore, magic, battle technique, apothecary information, and just about everything else the Akaviri could archive by the end of the first era. Loki began scanning over the books in the combat instructional section first to see if he could find something on dragon killing even though he really wanted to jump straight to the magic and enchanting.

 _OK, now where do I find 'How to Kill Dragons for Dummies'? If only it were so easy._

Scanning through the books and scrolls he found a few that appeared to have information relating to dragons so he placed them on a table to begin his reading list. He already had an armful of books and he hadn't even looked around the whole room yet.

Ralof and Hadvar joined him shortly, having finished their breakfast and curious to see what Loki had found that had him so excited. As they were browsing around the library looking for certain subjects Loki had told them to look for, Hadvar began examining a very exquisite pair of podiums in the back corner.

"Would you look at this craftsmanship, it's absolutely beautiful. That's a lot of work to put into something that just holds up a book." He said, running his hand over the gold edge gilding and examining the eye carved in the center.

Loki looked up from sipping his tea to see what Hadvar was going on about and nearly choked on the tea in his mouth. Covering his mouth to protect the scrolls in front of him he wiped his mouth, got up, and nearly ran to the podium Hadvar was examining.

"By the nine! Is this what I think it is?! I never expected to see one of these in Skyrim."

"What? What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost, what's got you so damn excited about a book rest?" Hadvar looked like he was ready to slap Loki upside the head to get him to snap out of his excitement and make him explain.

Looking the podiums over carefully, Loki placed his hands on one and could feel that there was much more to these fine library furnishings than simple book stands.

"These, my friends, are something that probably hasn't been seen in Tamriel since the days of the Mages Guild. Thank the gods this temple was sealed ages before the Thalmor destroyed everything. These are alters for spellcrafting and enchanting. The art of writing your own spells and turning them into enchantments seems to have been lost after the Oblivion Crisis, but this temple, this time capsule, has preserved it. With this, I can take the spells that I learn from the tomes I've bought and any that I find in here and make my own more powerful versions of them or even combinations of the different spells."

"Neat," said Ralof, "So how do you use it?"

Loki looked him square in the eyes, and with all confidence replied, "I have no idea."

Ralof laughed at Loki's absolute certain uncertainty. "Well, they won't do us much good then, will they?"

"Well," Loki thought for a second, then continued, "I know the Mages Guild used to use them, there must be a few mages old enough to remember the Mages Guild and how to spellcraft with one of these. There's been no Guild in Skyrim in the fourth era, but it was only 200 years ago, and the Thalmor didn't sack the Imperial City until around 25 years ago. The Archmage at the college of Winterhold is a Dunmer, their average lifespan is 1000 years; the court mage of Solitude is a vampire renowned for her grasp of magical concept, she might be old enough; perhaps Falion of Morthal, he knows things no other mages do. I know one other mage old enough to know how, but she isn't awake yet, and I'm not nearly ready to wake her up."

Ralof and Hadvar exchanged another confused look at the reference to the last mage, but both had learned by now to just shrug off the riddles in Loki's rambling words. It usually took too long to explain and they still wouldn't get it anyway.

"So we're going to have to find an instructor for these?" Hadvar said, then with sarcasm added: "Something your scrolls didn't bother to tell you in advance."

"Well, they taught me what they are and what they do, but no, they didn't teach me how to use them in person. Hell, I don't even know how to use your modern enchanting tables yet, but just wait. Once I get into something like this, I don't stop until I have achieved the zenith of its capabilities. I'm going to make enchantments that will make Ahzidal pale in comparison."

Taking a break from the library in midmorning, Loki showed his Nord companions through the gym and then the armory. Going over and opening the wardrobe, Loki picked up Dragonbane and then stood there admiring the Dragonborn armor on the display.

Hadvar was looking over the armor with awe. "This has got to be some of the finest armor I have ever seen. The Blades spared nothing when it came to equipping their men."

"It certainly is," agreed Ralof. He picked up a katana from the rack and drew it, examining the blade. "In my dreams alone have I imagined being so well armored in battle. These are strange swords though, that will take some getting used to."

"They're Akaviri katanas." Loki explained. "Unlike your broadswords and greatswords that are designed for bashing and chopping, katanas are designed for slashing, slicing the opponent like you would a steak. Both are effective stabbing blades, but where the broadsword needs a lot of strength to chop through the opponent much the same as a axe, the katana utilizes a lightweight curved blade to take advantage of speed and slashing motion to cut through the opponent with much less effort."

"They don't feel heavy enough to do any real damage"

"If you want one with more weight, perhaps you should try the Dai-katanas down at the other end of the rack. You'll have a longer reach too."

"I thought you said you didn't know much about melee combat."

"Well, when I was ten my mom put me in a karate class for two years and part of it was kendo, or fencing with these kinds of swords. I had to stop taking classes when we moved but I remember the basics of these. It's part of the reason I wanted so badly to come here first before I had to get into any real fighting."

"What's karate?" Hadvar interjected.

"It's a type of hand-to-hand self defense that is popular where I'm from. The classes are also a great way for parents to get their kids out of their hair for an hour or so a day so that's why my mom insisted on sending me. The rest of my knowledge about the design is just from spending hours reading about it."

Loki decided it was time to try on the armor, so Ralof and Hadvar assisted him in fitting it, then, stepping back to see the finished work, could barely believe the warrior image that stood before them. Loki's very non-athletic build was augmented quite well by the armor, making him look much broader than he actually was, the greaves and gauntlets made him look a bit more muscular, and the boots and helmet made him appear six inches (15.25 cm) taller.

"How well can you maneuver in it?" Hadvar asked him.

Loki flexed his body this way and that, moved his arms about in wide circles and arcs, kicked his legs back and forth a bit, then in one motion, hopped with both feet up onto the table and stood up.

"The motion is excellent and the weight is light enough I can jump and dodge. It's going to take some getting used to this little dragon sitting on my nose, but I really like it, and black is definitely my color."

After fitting Ralof and Hadvar with Blades armor and picking out weapons and shields for each of them, they placed the armor back on the stands and the three went back to the living chamber for lunch. Loki, having skipped breakfast, was very hungry even though, in all the excitement of the day, he still didn't realize it until he had eaten three helpings of the rabbit stew.

From there, Loki spent the rest of the day in the library looking through the magic and enchanting tomes. He also found a book on dragon language and words of power. It detailed how any word in the dragon language can potentially be a word of power if the one speaking it has understanding and meaning for that word.

 _This must be how Miraak made so many new shouts like taking dragon souls and such. What I wouldn't give to have him train me._

He wanted to go practice using the voice in the courtyard, but then a thought hit him.

 _If the greybeards hear me before I fight Mirmulnir, would they know and summon me early? Would I throw off the timeline? Shouting in a barrow is one thing, but up here on a mountain top they'd be sure to hear me. I think I better keep my mouth shut until after the fight, besides, I should do a lot better once I have the dragon's understanding of the language._

Loki learned to cast runes from one of the tomes in the library and then unbarred the door and went out to the front courtyard to get practice by casting several along the path coming into the temple and more around the door itself. After re-barring the door he cast three runes in front of it coming up the stairs, one of each type.

By the time the evening meal was prepared, Loki had made lots of discoveries and advanced his magical knowledge quite a bit, but there was still a long way to go and they wouldn't be able to live here long unless they were able to hunt. With this in mind, Loki decided to see just how good his speechcraft tree was really filled out and try to go negotiate a peace with the forsworn camp tomorrow. He hoped that having three men in ancient armor come out of an ancient temple, maybe the primitive locals would think them something supernatural or godly and be willing to talk. He had to try since the only way in and out of his new temple was through their camp.

 _Who knows, maybe they could even turn out to be good neighbors. Guess we'll find out tomorrow..._


	7. Chapter 7 - Training to be a Dovakiin

As the sun rose slowly over the mountains of the reach, Loki sat in one of the pavilions in the courtyard sipping on his tea to start his morning. He would have to see if Lucan had any more of the leaves when he returned to Riverwood, it had become a staple of his morning routine. Hadvar and Ralof were in the courtyard practicing with bokkens (wooden practice katanas) still working on getting the feel for their new weapons. After his morning tea, Loki planned to practice his kendo and some battojutsu he had been learning and then head back to the library where he spent most of his time studying magic and lore.

It had been a week since they arrived at the temple. In that time Loki had learned far more than he could have ever dreamed possible in this land he had once only known as a video game. His potential as a mage with all this ancient knowledge, plus what was known to the modern mages in Skyrim, was limitless. He had some novice success at making up some basic spells and enchantments with the spellcrafting and enchanting alters, but he knew he was going to have to seek out someone with experience to unlock their full potential. He could now conjure daedric weapons and armor, atronachs, and familiars; cast fireballs, lightning bolts, and Ice spikes; cast many illusion spells like calm, charm, invisibility, chameleon, paralyze, demoralize, night eye, and silence; restoration spells were coming along nicely; and he had even found the lost school of mysticism spells, several of which had been adopted into the alteration school later on. Loki had also been practicing his quieter shouts. He had Aura Whisper down and Throw Voice was working well. He still didn't want to use the louder Thu'ums for fear of changing the timeline too much and losing his advantage.

Ralof had talked him out of trying to parlay with the Forsworn yet. They knew they would have to eventually do something, but Ralof had made the point that perhaps they should wait until there are at least more than 3 of them. The two Nord soldiers had made their way down the back side of the Karthspire a couple times and come back with some tasty rabbits and even two decent sized goats to keep them fed. So, for now, Loki contented himself to take the advice of his companions and focus his efforts on preparations for the upcoming events instead of getting himself killed if his diplomacy failed.

The time was nearing for them to head back to Whiterun and for Loki to face his destiny as the Dragonborn. Despite all the advancements he had made in magic and combat, Loki was still very nervous about his upcoming battle with Mirmulnir. His confidence was growing, but there was still something unnerving about facing an actual dragon in combat. His mind often wandered a lot as well. With each passing day this world felt more and more real and he began to fear his former life would become a distant memory.

As the day wore to an end, the three got themselves ready for the next quest, the return. Being that they had decided this temple was going to be their base of operations for the revived Blades, they only packed what they thought they would need for the upcoming adventures, their armor, weapons, and some clothes; and, of course, Loki packed a few books and manuscripts to read.

The following morning they put on their armor, hoisted their packs, and set out for Markarth to catch a carriage back to Whiterun. On the way out, Loki cut his palm and applied it to the seal to reseal the temple.

"Wouldn't want anyone looting us while we're away."

They slipped back past the Forsworn camp before the light of dawn and were almost five miles in the direction of Markarth when the sun peaked over the mountain tops down into the valley below.

* * *

I Apologize for this chapter being so small and a long wait. I am a father before a writer and my work and children have been in more need of my time than my hobbies, so writing had to take a back seat. I will be picking the pace back up soon. I was going to wait this until I had added more, but I don't want anyone thinking I had abandoned the story. Anyway, I appreciate all the great feedback and positive reviews you guys have been giving me here. Enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8 - Return to Whiterun

The walk to Markarth took much of the day with their packs loaded as they were. They tried to move as quietly as possible so that if something hostile were on the path they would hopefully see it first. As it would turn out, the road that day was sparsely traveled; only a few Imperial patrols and an occasional traveler. The few people they encountered did look at them as if they were unsure what the trio were, given that they were wearing armor that hadn't been seen in the empire since the great war. Loki was thankful as Markarth came into view that they had not run into any Thalmor patrols, that would have certainly been a hostile meeting given the history between the Thalmor and the Blades. He also thanked the nine that his new armor was so lightweight and flexible; he could only imagine doing that march in heavy armor with his pack.

Crossing the bridge over the river in front of Markarth, Loki noted a campsite on the open area off to the right. He wondered to himself if it could be what he hoped it was. Then, as they got close enough to make out the occupants of the camp, he realized it was! Standing before him were completely real, man-sized cats walking upright.

"Holy shit! They're real! Actual Khajiit!"

"Yeah they're real. Sneaky, thieving bastards." Hadvar did not seem to like the feline gypsies much.

"I have got to get a closer look. Are you coming or would you two rather go hire the carriage and have him come down here to get me?"

"You aren't going into Markarth? The day is almost over, we won't be able to leave for Whiterun until the morning." Ralof had a concerned look on his face about Loki's suggestion.

"Ralof, I know this will probably be a bit hard to understand my reasoning, but you have to remember that I am the Dragonborn and there is a destiny in this land that certain events are tied to my arrival and actions. Stepping into that city will set off a chain of events which I do not have the time nor the training yet to deal with. Please trust me on this, I can't go in there yet; it could cost lives if I do."

"I have to admit, it does sound a bit unbelievable to me; but so many unbelievable things have happened since I met you that I'm inclined to take your word for it. That still leaves the question: where are we going to stay tonight?"

"Let me see what I can come up with." Loki cracked a grin as if he were coming up with a crazy plan.

The Nords decided to go hire the carriage so that it was on retainer for the next morning and then come back to meet Loki among the Khajiit camp. There must have been between forty to sixty of them, not counting the cubs he saw frolicking and playing on the edge of the campsite by the water. Watching their mannerisms, it seemed as if they could act as men or animals as easily as the other; one moment running around upright like boys and girls and the next on all fours pouncing and playing like kittens. Various tents were set up as shops with wares on display while others were obviously the living tents. Some Khajiit were selling wares, some were running various games or gambling, while a few offered fortunes and prophecies. It reminded Loki of the European gypsy carnivals he had read about as a child and seen in some old movies, just with cats instead of people.

There was a large tent set up in the center of the camp. In the doorway of the tent was a mat with an older Khajiit with gray and white tabby fur and a long gray mane. He raised his eyes and looked at Loki, then said "Far we have traveled to bring you these fine wares, come and see what we offer. You look as if you have never seen Khajiit before friend."

"You are correct my friend, I am not from Tamriel and this is my first time meeting your kind, though I have heard much about you. I am honored to meet you, I am Loki of Asgard." Loki gave a slight bow to the Khajiit who was obviously one of importance in this caravan.

The elderly Khajiit bowed his head in return and then replied "You have heard much about us and you are still honored to meet us. You must not have heard of us from these Nords of the north, for they think of us as thieves and vermin. It is a pleasure to meet someone who does not treat us with such prejudice and discrimination. I am Ri'saad, the elder of this caravan and of the other caravan elders. Ma'dran and Akhari are the elders of the other caravans, both are sworn to me."

"Ri'saad?! You also trade at Whiterun, do you not?"

"Yes, Whiterun is part of this one's circuit. We leave for Whiterun tomorrow in fact. Like all the walled cities, they do not allow us inside the city, so we must set up camp and let those with open minds and open coin purses come to us. This one cannot truly complain, many do come out to trade with us."

"I am glad to hear that. Might I ask if my friends and I might tag along with your caravan tomorrow on the trip to Whiterun. In Forsworn country it is better to travel in large groups, and we can offer ourselves to help protect the caravan in case of attack."

"Before I answer your request, why are you heading to Whiterun, and why did you just come from that direction only to turn around and go back. I saw you as you were coming over the bridge on the road from Whiterun."

"You are correct, I did just come from that direction. We were at the temple of the Blades on the Karthspire and it was shorter to come here to hire a carriage than to hike it on foot all the way to Whiterun. We are headed to Whiterun to see the Jarl about the dragons returning to Skyrim."

"There is a Forsworn camp at the Karthspire, this one knows nothing of a temple there. You wouldn't be trying to set us up for an ambush would you?"

"That would be pointless since I am not asking you to let me lead the procession nor am I choosing the route. Besides, we had to sneak in and out of the temple past them ourselves. One day I hope to make a truce with them, else I will have to remove them from the path to the temple, but that day has not yet come."

"I have lived for many years young man, and I have known those who wear the armor like your friends. You say it is the temple of the Blades, and your armor matches your words, but the Blades have not been seen since the Great War with the Thalmor. How is it that you come by this armor, and claim to be a Blade? You are not old enough to have even been born when they were eradicated by the Aldmeri Dominion."

"You are correct again, sir. My companions and I went to the temple and are reforming the Blades, not only to fight the dragons that threaten Skyrim; but also to fight for the people of Skyrim against those who would oppress them. Thalmor are very high on that list, my friend. I thought it only fitting to reform their mortal enemies." Loki noticed Ri'saad's ears perk up at this statement, and remembered that Ri'saad despised the Thalmor and anyone who would work with them.

"If you wish to take on the Thalmor, you will need more than three."

"We have only just begun. Recruiting is the next step. Perhaps you can help us get the word out, but be careful of Thalmor spies."

"This one will be glad to help in such a noble undertaking. Please, friend, enjoy our hospitality tonight, and join us tomorrow for the journey to Whiterun. You may camp among us tonight if you wish. And please, do not forget to shop with us. We have goods and wares of all kinds, and fair prices."

"I am most honored my friend. I thank you, and I will definitely continue shopping." Loki smiled and bowed to Ri'saad. "I will not take up anymore of your time this evening, I am sure you have your caravan to tend to."

"We will talk again soon, you intrigue me Loki of Asgard. This one looks forward to our next conversation."

"I do too my friend. I foresee a long and potentially profitable friendship for the two of us. Have a good evening Ri'saad" and with that Loki left Ri'saad's tent and continued browsing the wares of the shop tents.

When Ralof and Hadvar caught up with Loki they told him the carriage was arranged and would be waiting at the stable at dawn. Loki informed them that they had been invited to join the caravan to Whiterun and camp with them for the night.

"How in Oblivion did you pull that off?" Hadvar's jaw almost hit the cobblestones on the ground.

"I had a talk with Ri'saad, explained the situation, and he invited us along."

Hadvar looked at Ralof with an astonished expression on his face. "This guy could talk a daedra into a tea party. I swear!"

Ralof just laughed and they began to set up their tents for the night. After learning that Ri'saad had invited them personally, the Khajiit of the caravan treated the three as if they were family. One named Khayla even taught Loki several tricks to help him with his stealth tactics. Loki taught her the long lost Chameleon spell in return. By the end of the evening, they had made many friends among the Khajiit and were looking forward to the journey with them tomorrow. As Loki lay in his tent that night, he was pleased to have made an important friend and allies with the trading caravans throughout Skyrim. He also still could not believe he had actually met real cat people! He was afraid that the excitement would make for a restless night, but thankfully the soothing sounds of the water running through the river behind the camp put him to sleep quickly and made for a very restful sleep.

* * *

The next morning as Loki brewed his morning tea over the small campfire, he was very thankful he had found one of the Khajiit venders with a fresh supply. His own supply had been dwindling and he was becoming rather dependant on it for these early morning wake-ups. He watched in amazement as the campsite was torn down and loaded with such speed and precision of a well practiced group of gypsies. Everything had it's place and was stowed and secured and ready to travel in a matter of two hours.

The carriage came down to the camp and Loki, Hadvar, and Ralof loaded their gear and fell in near the rear of the caravan. They donned their armor in case of an attack by bandits or forsworn, but surely no one would attack a caravan this large…

The caravan headed out in the direction of Whiterun around 8:00 A.M. on the most beautiful Sundas morning they could have hoped for. When they made the turn at the intersection and the road dipped down by the stream below the Karthspire Loki looked up toward the peak to see if he could glimpse his temple, but the peak was shrouded in a fog. That must be part of the spell the seal uses to keep the place secure. Loki thought to himself. As they passed the bridge, something felt wrong, and he wasn't the only one who noticed it. Ralof and Hadvar stood up in the back of the carriage and began scanning the cliffs, and Loki noticed Ma'randru-jo and the other guards get suspicious as well. Then it hit him, there were no nature sounds, no birds, no animals at all. Something was lurking, and it had scared everything else away.

Just as they reached the incline that lead up to the shrine to Dibella and the bridge that crossed to Hroldan (He had discovered the game left out the fact there is a small town around that inn), they heard the war cries.

"FORSWORN!" hollered Ma'randru-jo. "Prepare to defend yourselves."

The Nords drew their weapons. Ralof was a bit anxious, this being the first time he would actually use his new dai-katana in combat. Hadvar had a standard katana and a Blade's shield. Loki had Dragonbane sheathed at his side, but decided to conjure a daedric bow to start off with a ranged defence, nocking an arrow and facing the cries of the attackers.

They came from across the stream for a flank attack and the Khajiit met them fiercely at the edge of the water. Fireballs and arrows were flying almost instantly, many others meeting in melee combat with swords, axes, and claws. Loki let arrows fly and took out several before he just happened to look around and saw another assault coming from the cliffs behind them. Archers began raining arrows on the caravan from the cliffs and the archers from the caravan returned fire. The mages had their hands full throwing spells in offence to their attackers and trying to heal the injured as quickly as possible to avoid losing their people. Loki was right in the midst of it all, scared out of his mind, but trying his best to remain calm and do everything he could to fight and help the Khajiit. Several arrows hit him square on, but were no match for the dragonscales of his armor, barely making a scratch

"Thank you Akatosh for whoever made this wonderful armor." Loki muttered under his breath as one arrow slammed directly into the center of his breastplate and fell to the ground. He picked it up and sent it right back at a Forsworn who was about to axe a Khajiit vender in the back.

Though it had only been minutes into the fighting, Loki felt like it had been hours or days. His magika pool was dwindling so he quickly downed a potion to restore it and continued launching arrows at every enemy he saw. Then what he saw next made time feel like it had come to a complete stop. His blood ran cold as he saw two fireballs coming down from the side of the mountain on the other side of the stream headed straight for a group of cubs who were huddled at the center of the defensive circle the Khajiit had formed. He would never be able to get to them in time to shield the children from the impact. He dropped the bow and it dispelled instantly. As the two balls of fire flew at the terrified cubs Loki desperately called a ward to both hands. He had no idea if what he was doing would work at this distance, but he had no choice but to try. Casting the ward with everything he had in him, it conjured above the now screaming kittens who were crouched to the ground and then it shattered as the fireballs impacted it and exploded.

Loki could barely bring himself to look as the fire dissipated from the air around the cubs, fearing the worst that he had failed to protect them; but to his own amazement, despite a bit of singed fur, they were unharmed. I can't believe that worked...Oh my god, I CAN'T believe that worked!

His relief was short lived though as he looked to the mountainside and saw who it was that had thrown the fireballs at the children. It had to be out of a nightmare, a really sick and twisted nightmare. It had the head of a corpse with a long nose, patches of long hair that led down to a long and twisted neck. It's bony arms covered in skin that looked like there was no meat underneath, just hanging on the bones, but with FEATHERS growing out of it. It's legs and feet looked like that of a dead bird, and it was solely focused on the young Khajiit cubs, making its way through the chaos looking intent on capturing them.

"HAGRAVEN!" Loki cried to warn the others. "She's after the cubs!"

By this point the Forsworn attackers had been cut by over half of the sixty or seventy they had started with, though the caravan had only lost about seven or eight with fifteen to twenty wounded. Ma'randru-jo was electrocuting every Reachman in sight and his guard detail was ravaging the attackers using tactics of combat fighting like a human as well as wild animal clawing and biting. Upon hearing there was a threat to the young, the female Khajiit of the caravan went into a primal mode of mother cats protecting their young and began ripping the reachmen to shreds. It was like a pride of lions against gladiators in the ancient Roman coliseums.

Loki ran to intercept the Hagraven, throwing fireballs and lightning as he closed the distance. He realized Hadvar and Ralof were at his sides covering his flanks and cutting down anyone who came at him to defend the Hag. They had done a lot of damage to the Forsworn who had tried to cross the stream, though their armor looked as though they had taken a hell of a beating, it had protected them and kept them in the fight.

The three got to the cubs just before the Hagraven and three Briarheart warriors attacked. Ralof and Hadvar each engaged one of the warriors, the third was behind the hag defending her from the rear. The Hagraven threw bolts of lightning at Loki, but he warded them and only felt a bit of a tingle from what got through as the ward shattered. Then the Hag lashed out with her claws, bringing them down full force across Loki's chest. The claws were no match for the dragonscales and not only did the claws shatter, but they ripped at the quick of the fingers. The Hag let out a screech that felt like it would burst the eardrums of everyone in the battle. As she pulled her injured hand back stunned and tried to heal it, she gave Loki the opening he needed. Using a technique called Battojutsu he had been practicing all week, Loki drew Dragonbane in one motion from the saya through the Hagraven's neck in a wide arch, giving the apparent leader of this attack a very anticlimactic death. As her body fell to the ground, the electrical currents from Dragonbane's enchantment caused it to twitch and spasm a lot.

Realizing the Hag was down, the Briarheart warrior defending the rear turned and squared off to Loki just as Ralof sliced his opponent in two from left shoulder to right hip with the massive blade of his dai-katana.

"I know your weakness!" Loki taunted as the warrior raised his sword in challenge. Loki raised his hand and, using his telekinesis, ripped the briarheart from the warriors chest. The warrior let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees and then facedown on the stones of the road.

Hadvar was the last to finish his opponent. As he raised his shield over his head to block a high downward swing, he sliced his katana through the warrior's leg, amputating it at the knee. The warrior fell on all four's and Hadvar brought his blade down on the back of his neck, beheading him rather smoothly.

Once the Hagraven and the Briarhearts fell, what was left of the Reachmen retreated back into the hills, though there were barely any left to run. Loki and his companions stood for a moment, assessing the scene. Many were injured, though only a few severely. Thanks to the fast response to healing by the mages and the ample supply of healing potions in the trading caravan, only nine were lost. The cubs were safe, though now Loki was wondering why all of this was done just to get them. He knew there were magical properties in things like elf ears and giant's toes to make potions, but was there something about the cubs the Hagraven wanted to harvest? He didn't have time to ponder that now. He asked Ralof and Hadvar if they were injured, but they responded that they were only worn out from the battle. Then he spied Ri'saad and ran to check on him.

Ri'saad had an arrow in his side and a gash on his shoulder, but it would be an easy fix for the healers. Loki left it to the more experienced mages since he was still not very good at healing without leaving scars. Then he looked around and asked, "Has anyone seen Khayla?"

"I'm right behind you." He heard a feline whisper say.

Loki saw a ripple in the air and then Khayla appeared.

"That chameleon spell you traded me was most helpful. I must have cut dozens of throats and they never knew I was there. It's a pity this spell was lost for so long." Khayla purred with a smile across her face.

* * *

After tending the wounded, preparing the dead and loading them into the carts, looting the bodies of the Forsworn, and getting everyone back in order, the caravan continued on. The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful, save only a couple of giant spiders on the side of the road that were killed quickly and harvested for their venom. The Khajiit left nothing behind that might bring them profit.

The battle set travel time back significantly, and the caravan arrived outside of Whiterun well after dark.

"Should we go in and get a room at the inn?" Ralof asked.

"I don't know about you," Hadvar replied, "but I'd feel a lot safer camping with the cats now."

"Damn, I thought you didn't like them much. I agree with you, though.

"Well, that was before I fought for my life alongside them. They definitely earned my respect today.

"I agree as well," Loki cut in. "We enter the city tomorrow morning, then the real fun begins. If you guys don't mind setting up the tent, I need to talk to Ri'saad before he retires for the night. Oh, and before I forget, pack away your Blades armor where it can't be seen. Nobody can know I'm reviving the Dragonguard yet. It might throw a crimp in the prophecy. We will see the Jarl in plain clothes tomorrow."

"No problem, tell him we said 'thank you' for the hospitality."Hadvar said.

"I will"

* * *

As Loki approached Ri'saad's tent he was ambushed from behind by six cubs who tackled him to the ground and proceeded to assault him with hugs.

"Thank you so much for saving us today." said one black and white female. She had one blue eye and one green eye Loki noticed as he saw her lean in and kiss him on the cheek.

"That was amazing how you took down that hag with one swipe of your sword!" exclaimed a tabby male as he swished his hand around like he was swinging a sword.

"...And then ripping out that guys heart with magic…" added another who was solid black with blue eyes.

The cubs were so adorable with their excitement Loki hated to part from them to go to see Ri'saad, and as luck would have it, he didn't have to. Hearing all the commotion, Ri'saad came out of the tent and then smiled at the cubs pouncing all over Loki.

"Let our guest up so that we may talk, young ones." he said gently. Ri'saad sat down Indian style in front of the tent and the cubs followed suite in a circle. Loki sat up and closed the circle, facing Ri'saad.

"My companions and I wanted to thank you for all your hospitality. We probably would not have made that journey by ourselves.

"It is this one who should be thanking you for fighting alongside of us, for seeing the threat and their true intent of capturing our cubs, and for putting your own lives between that Hagraven and our children. We are in your debt, Loki of Asgard."

"We merely did what we could. It's what we do, my Blades and I. Do you know why they wanted the cubs?"

"This one does not know, but would assume it wished to experiment on them."

"I am sorry for the losses your caravan suffered."

"The losses would have been much greater if not for you and your friends."

"I don't know. I think the Mamma Cats did a lot more damage than we did once they realized the cubs were the target."

Ri'saad smiled, "Never get between a mother and her cubs."

"I wanted to warn you, keep the caravan close to the city. There will be a dragon attack near the old watchtower soon. I don't want anyone getting too close and getting hurt."

"You know this for certain? A real dragon?"

"Yes, the scrolls have foretold it. That's why we came here, to face it."

"Then may the nine watch over you friend."

"I have a favor to ask."

"If it is within this one's power, you need only say it, friend."

"After I face this dragon, if you would in your travels, get the word out that the Dragonguard is recruiting as we discussed yesterday. I am going to ask the Jarl if he will assist with the garrisoning of recruits here in Whiterun until I can return them to Skyhaven Temple."

"It shall be done, I will inform the other caravans as well to spread the word. At least most of the Forsworn have been cleared from the entrance to your temple."

"You're right." Loki shook his head. "And I have you to thank for that."

Ri'saad just smiled, then all the cubs tackled Loki again with hugs before he returned to his tent.

Sleep came quickly after such a hard day.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Soul of a Dov

Cold… So Cold…

Shivering… So hard it hurts…

Pain…

Loki's mind finally came to in time to realize he was going to freeze to death in his sleep. But why? His amulet was supposed to stave off the cold, but where was it? It wasn't around his neck anymore. He raised his hand out from under the skins of his sleeping roll and summoned a fireball to warm the tent. After several minutes that felt like hours, Loki had the tent warm enough to come out from under his covers, he cast a magelight to the top of the tent and began searching through the deerskin sleeping roll until he found his lost amulet. The clasp had popped loose in his sleep, but it was easy enough to fix. Putting it back around his neck, he could feel the relief from the cold immediately, but it did nothing to relieve the muscle pain from the violent shivering he had awoken to; so, with that, Loki got up and walked out to the edge of the camp overlooking the plains.

He could see the two moons, Masser and Secunda, high above in the night sky. From the slight ambience of the sky behind Dragon's Reach, he figured dawn would be in the next hour or so, and the moonlight had the plains well lit. Off in the distance he could make out the outline of the watchtower they had passed the day before.

 _How am I ever going to be able to do this? Taking on bandits is hard enough, how in the hell do I defeat a dragon in real life? If my armor is any indication, their scales are nearly impervious to arrows or blades. I don't have enough magicka to shock him completely to death._

The wings were vulnerable according to his research, but not lethally; it would be a good way to ground Mirmulnir without Dragonrend though, especially since he had absolutely no understanding of nor practice with that shout. Most of the material he had found seemed to indicate eyes, mouth, and the thinner scales on the underside of the neck as the best possibilities for critical hits.

 _Divines guide me, I know this is destiny, but I really have no idea what I'm about to get into._

Ma'randru-jo was standing watch and saw Loki staring out across the plains.

"This one is troubled? Lost in thought?"

"Broke my amulet and woke up shivering. Not all of us are blessed with fur coats."

"Ah yes, the fur helps with this bitter cold land, but I do not think it is the cold that has you pondering so deeply, Friend."

"Today I begin something I am not sure I am ready to face. Soon I will have to face real dragons, and I haven't had a chance yet to fully prepare myself. Once I've had a chance to perfect my potions and enchantments, I will be able to make short work of any enemy; but there will be some I have to face before i can do that. I just hope I survive long enough to do it."

"I wouldn't worry too much friend, if the way you fought for this caravan is any indication, I think you will do fine against any enemy."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, I hope you are right."

"Look at it this way friend, either you will win, or it is no longer your problem to deal with." Ma'randru-jo flashed a cheshire grin.

Loki chuckled as he replied, "You have a point, but it's more the death by burning and massive fangs that has me worried."

"Well, I don't know about the massive fangs, but perhaps this will help with the flames." Ma'randru-jo tossed a ring to Loki. "The Resist Fire enchantment should help you along with your enchantments and protect you from the burning. Consider it my thanks to you for what you did for my people yesterday."

Loki looked at the ring and then slid it on his finger. It was a simple silver band with a slightly red aura. "Thank you my friend, I appreciate this very much."

"Think nothing of it, it's the least I can do. Now, if you will excuse me, I must attend to getting the camp ready for the day of trading." and with a slight bow, Ma'randru-jo left Loki to his thoughts.

* * *

Dressed in fine Akaviri robes they had found in the temple, the three entered the city of Whiterun just after dawn. Loki had been impressed with how much bigger Riverwood and Sky Haven Temple were than he expected, but Whiterun blew his mind. Built on a mountain in the middle of the plains, the houses around the Plains District were innumerable, and proceeding up into the market square there were merchant stands of all kinds. The streets were coming to life in the early morning with people getting their fruits, vegetables, and fresh cuts of meat for their meals for the day. Loki smiled as he overheard two nord women at a stall bartering over some vegetables and realized it was Ysolda and Carlotta.

Taking note of the others around the market, Loki almost felt right at home, like he was seeing old friends again even though they had not yet met him for the first time yet. On up they went towards Dragon's Reach, coming to the Gildergreen tree in the middle of the Wind District. It was then he saw someone he knew he needed to take a moment out of his quest to speak to.

She sat on a bench under the Gildergreen looking small and helpless. Her ragged little dress weathered and torn. Loki told Ralof and Hadvar to wait a moment for him and he walked over to the bench and knelt down by the small child sitting there.

"Mister, could you spare a coin?" came the frail innocent voice from the child as she looked over at him. "I'm so hungry."

"Tell me your name child."

"I...I'm Lucia."

"Why are you out here on the street, Lucia?"

"M...my ma... she died, and my aunt and uncle took over the farm. They threw me out and said I wasn't good for nothing. I wound up here. I don't know what else to do."

"Come with me, child." Loki lead her back down to the market square. Spotting Ysolda from the stairs, he made his way to her and introduced himself and Lucia.

"Greetings Mi'lady, I am Loki of Asgard, and this is Lucia. I have a favor to ask of you, if you will."

Ysolda looked a little taken back at the approach of the random stranger in fine robes with a child in rags in tow. "A favor? I know Lucia already, but you Sir are but a stranger. What favor are you asking?"

"Mi'lady, I am an adventurer here to combat this coming dragon crisis. I have heard of your reputation as an honest and trustworthy woman and aspiring business woman and I offer you this proposal. If you would take care of this child until my return to Whiterun; feed, clothe, and house her, I will give you this pouch of gems and coins to help support the child and, upon my return, I will bring you a mammoth tusk. I understand that you have been seeking one to barter with Ri'saad. I can also put in a good word with him for you, we just arrived with him this morning."

"Ri'saad's caravan is here? Wait… how did you know about me needing a tusk?"

"Nevermind that, I know many things. Do we have a deal? This young lady desperately needs a place to sleep other than under that tree. When I return I will arrange her a more permanent living arrangement, I promise, but this is all I can do on such short notice."

"Well, ok i guess, but you promise to deliver the tusk when you return?" Ysolda looked down at Lucia whose eyes lit up with hope.

"I promise Ms. Ysolda." and Loki handed her the pouch with the money and gems.

"You mean it? You really mean it?" Lucia could barely contain herself. "Oh thank you, thank you both so much. Divines, bless your kind hearts!"

Loki knelt down in front of Lucia and she gave him the biggest hug she could possibly muster from her frail little arms.

"My dear Lucia, upon my return, I shall ensure that you are never hungry or homeless again."

Ysolda looked in the pouch and her eyes grew wide. "Um, this is a lot for food and board…"

"I may be a bit long before my return, this quest I embark on is going to be a challenge and take me all over Skyrim."

"Then may the Nine protect you, Loki of Asgard. We will look forward to your return. Well Lucia, let's look around the market and find you some decent clothes."

With that said, Loki bowed to Ysolda and Lucia, then turned and climbed back up the stairs to where his friends were waiting at the top.

"We saw the whole thing," Hadvar said, "That was one of the most selfless things I think I have ever witnessed in Skyrim."

"There are many children in Skyrim whose stories I know well. I will help every single one if I am able. Now come on before you two get all mushy on me. I want to reach the Jarl before Heimskr starts his street preaching. It will give me a headache for sure."

* * *

The guards lead Loki and his companions in to the Jarl's hall once he told them they were there about the dragon attack. As they approached the throne, Irileth stepped forward and drew her sword.

"What is the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors."

"We bring news of the dragon attacks, we were at Helgen."

"Well, that explains why the guards let you in. Come on, the Jarl will want to speak to you personally."

Loki looked up to behold a giant of a Nord with long blonde hair and beard sitting on the throne below the skull of the legendary Numinex. Balgruuf was the very picture of a great Viking warrior. Irileth leaned over and spoke some words into Balgruuf's ear and his eyes grew wide and locked on Loki and his Nord friends. He sat up straight in the throne which seemed to make him look even larger than before.

"You were at Helgen?"

"Yes my Jarl. We were there as the dragon laid waste to the town. As far as I know, we are the only survivors besides Ulfric Stormcloak and General Tullius."

"Ulfric AND Tullius? I should have guessed they would be mixed up in this mess too. And how did you escape with your lives?"

"The tunnels under the keep my lord."

"I see, and just who are you? You don't look like a Nord, or an Imperial. In fact you don't look like any of the Tamriel people."

"You are correct my lord, I am Loki of Asgard. My companions, Ralof and Hadvar of Riverwood of the Stormcloak and Imperial armies, respectively, have laid down their political hostilities to aid me in avenging Helgen and ridding this land of the dragon menace."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you got a stormcloak and an Imperial legionnaire to fight side by side with you against these dragons? Hadvar, Ralof, is this true?"

"Yes my lord." the Nords said in unison, nodding their heads in confirmation.

"AMAZING! And what have you come to ask of me?"

"First, for a detachment of guards to protect Riverwood. They are without walls and are closest to the only known attack."

Proventus raised an objection to this saying it would be seen as an act of war by the other holds.

"Enough!" Balgruuf slammed his fist on the armrest of the throne and faced Proventus. "I will not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people. Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes, my Jarl." Irileth turned and ran to get her captain of the guard to form the detachment.

Proventus bowed out and said he would return to his duties.

"That would be best." Jarl Balgruuf sneered, then turning to the men in front of him, "Well done, you have done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it, but perhaps could you do something else for me? My court wizard is doing research into the dragons and could use some help."

"Of course my lord, anything that helps us learn more about the dragons would be beneficial to us both." Loki replied, and the three men followed the Jarl from the throne room to find the court mage.

As they walked into the study, they found Farengar hunched over a table full of scrolls and books. The Jarl made introductions, explained to Farengar who the men were and that they were here about the dragons, then instructing him to detail the quest for the item he was seeking.

"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me? Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."

Loki rolled his eyes remembering Farengar's character as absent-minded and pretty arrogant. "You just said a lot of words that really told me nothing I need to know. What is the tablet you need and where do I look to find it?"

"I began to search for information about dragons - where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from? I ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a "Dragonstone," said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet - no doubt interred in the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself."

"Oh, you mean…" Hadvar began to say, but Loki raised a hand and cut him off.

"My Riverwood companions here know that Barrow very well, considering the bandits and the draugr it should take about one full day to delve through the barrow, plus travel time, they should have that tablet here by the end of the day after tomorrow. In the mean time I need something from you as well. One moment while I speak with my men." Loki lead Hadvar and Ralof just outside the door and then continued in a hushed tone, "I'm sorry Hadvar, but I'm buying us some more time to prepare. I need to learn the alchemy and enchanting and this is a way I can get him to train me. Go get us some rooms at the Bannered Mare and wait for me there, three days should give us enough time to be ready for this fight… I hope"

The two Nords caught on quickly and understood the plan. Nodding to Loki, they turned to leave and handle business while Loki returned to get Farengar to teach him how to use the enchanting and alchemy setups. He bought some soul gems and a few enchanted items from the mage to begin his enchanting practice and learn the enchantments as well. He was particularly pleased to find that Farengar had some rings with regeneration enchantments for health, stamina, and magicka; though, at the moment, his favorite was the 'fortify alchemy' enchantment. He disenchanted each item, then, since he had nothing else to practice on, he began enchanting septims with petty soul gems.

 _Well, whoever gets these when I spend them might find they have a 'lucky septim'_

Farengar was shocked at how quickly Loki picked up the enchanting and he quickly lost his condescending tone. When they got to the alchemy instructions, Loki found that brewing potions was going to be a bit more involved than he had hoped. It was more like chemistry class: heating the vials, dissolving the solids, distilling the liquids, then mixing the parts. It took much of the rest of the day to get that part down, since each part is a slow process.

Loki thought to himself _I love how intriguing this is, but given the urgency, I do wish it were as simple as it is in the game. At least I know how to use it now, I have two days left to gather my ingredients and make a masterpiece. Gods I hope that is possible._

Loki thanked Farengar for the lessons then headed back to the inn to meet his companions, stopping along the way at the meat stand of the local hunter Anoriath to inquire if he had any small deer antlers from his hunts and to get three nice elk steaks for dinner. Happy with his purchases, Loki retired to the inn for the night, offering Saadia a nice tip and a cut of his steak to cook them for him. He knew he could never eat that much and certainly didn't want to waste it.

As the three discussed the coming events and enjoyed their evening meal, Loki made up a list of ingredients and items he was going to need to make his masterpiece enchantments.

 _I wonder if the 'fortify restoration' potion really will supercharge an enchantment? I'm definitely gonna try it to find out._

Ysolda came into the inn with Lucia in tow and, seeing Loki and his companions, sat down with them for some conversation to learn more about this man who seemed to be so generous to the orphans. Lucia immediately jumped up in his lap and began regaling him with everything that Ysolda had bought her today, especially her new dress, shoes, a hair brush, and ribbons for her hair. The child was beyond ecstatic about being cared for for the first time since her parents died. Ysolda, noticing the list Loki had drawn up, volunteered to show him around the market the following morning and help him barter for some of the things he needed, explaining that the vendors had a tendency to raise prices on strangers visiting the city.

Loki gave Lucia some of his steak, wondering by its size how the little Bosmer hunter had managed to lug that much meat back to the city. It must have weighed at least double his weight even after he field dressed it. That's when he realized he had gotten so focused on Lucia and Ysolda that he hadn't even noticed that his Nord friends had already finished their food and were up mingling about the inn.

Hadvar was conversing with the Redguard Saadia who had cooked their steaks, complementing her cooking to the level of outright flirting. Saadia was obviously very flattered by the attention the Nord was giving her, but also had a guarded nervousness about her. Loki just grinned, knowing they would deal with her situation when the time came, and figuring Hadvar would probably volunteer to take care of anyone threatening her all by himself.

Ralof was over in the corner drinking mead with a woman who looked like she could take on the entire Stormcloak army all by herself. By the end of their mugs, Uthgerd had challenged him to a fistfight and the two were sparring in the back of the inn with a crowd gathered around cheering them on and placing bets. The fight seemed to go on and on with neither one being able to drop the other until, at last, neither could even swing. Finally when they were both bloody and barely able to stand, Hadvar stepped in and declared it the most even fight he had ever seen. Loki blasted them both with a healing spell that stitched up their faces and gave them enough stamina to order up another round of mead and toast to the best fight either of them had had in a long time. Then Ralof looked over at his friends and got a gleam in his eye.

"We need someone like you, you should join us, help us fight for the people of Skyrim against the dragons and anyone else who would oppress them." Ralof finished his proposition and then slammed back his mug, downing it in one gulp.

Loki was shocked at the suddenness of Ralof's offer to Uthgerd, but this did set his plans for recruiting in motion and showed him that he could count on his generals to grow his dragonguard. He shook his head approvingly at Ralof's decision.

Uthgerd was definitely taken by surprise. After being rejected by the Companions at Jorrvaskr, she never expected to be recruited by anyone else. Ralof laid out the details of who they were and what they were fighting for and she ultimately agreed, stating that anyone who could fight her to a stalemate was worthy of her to fight alongside them.

* * *

The following morning Loki met with Ysolda and Lucia to fill his list, getting ingredients for his potions, soul gems, and items to enchant. He had Ralof and Hadvar lay low at the inn to keep from messing up his plan, since they were supposed to be off retrieving the Dragonstone that they already had with them. Ralof was very easy to convince of this since he was still sore as hell from his fight with Uthgerd the night before. His hangover wasn't much help either.

After gathering what he needed and taking them outside to the caravan to meet Ri'saad and the other khajiit, Loki gave Lucia a big hug and then headed up to Dragonsreach to begin work on his enchantments and potions. Donning his Alchemy ring he set to making a potion of Fortify Restoration, with Farengar giving him tips to help him get the most potency out of the mixture. Once his first one was done, he took off his ring, downed his new elixir, and then placed it back on his finger.

Loki really couldn't describe what he felt, but it was like his mind opened up to new ideas and understandings of the Alchemy process. It had worked, it really amplified the enchantment! Loki worked quickly to mix up another and another, each one exponentially more potent than the last. He had to take a few breaks, since he could only stomach so much potion at a time, but he finally got the mixture so strong that it felt like he could discern all the alchemical properties of something just by looking at it and brew it to its strongest possible potential. At this point he not only brewed himself several of the Fortify Restoration potions, but several Fortify enchanting potions as well.

With his new potions in hand he then turned to the enchanting table and began by making a new Fortify Alchemy ring who's enchantment was strong enough that he wouldn't need to use the potion with it to max out his Alchemy ability to its limits. He then turned to enchanting some small amulets with Resist Fire and Frost, and Regeneration for Health, Magicka, and Stamina.

 _I really can't wait to get ahold of the book to be able to do multiple enchantments. I'm gonna feel like some '90's rapper with all these amulets around my neck. Maybe I can make them into a single chain so it's less troublesome._

Farengar was too wrapped up in his notes by this point to even notice what Loki was doing behind him unless he was asked a question directly. His absent mindedness played well to help Loki keep his secret. He really didn't want this to technique to become public knowledge because if it were militarized by the wrong people, the bloodshed would be apocalyptic.

He had made enough enchanted items to protect himself and his three Blades, as well as a special necklace for Lucia. As he exited Dragonsreach, he made a detour on his way to the inn. Ducking behind a building, Loki put on his amulets that he had put all on one chain.

 _Time to see if I did this right._

He started by casting a fire from one hand over the other. While it felt uncomfortably warm, he was not burnt or harmed. Next came the test he was dreading, he had to actually stab himself again. Loki drew his dagger and, after hesitating for the expected burn of the blade going through his flesh, sliced his palm deep with the blade. To his absolute amazement the skin laid open, but mended back together before any but a few drops of blood escaped. To his disappointment it still hurt and burned like hell though.

 _Well, it's still going to hurt, but at least I am fairly confident my friends and I won't die._

Getting back to the inn, Loki summoned his three Nord companions to his room where he gave them each one of the chains of amulets he had crafted and explained the enchantments. He also told them if they wanted a demonstration they could stab eachother because he had already hurt himself enough testing them.

When Ysolda and Lucia arrived that evening, he gave Lucia the necklace he had made her. It was a simple gold chain with small gems hanging around it. Loki had enchanted each of the gems with an individual enchantment. He smiled to himself over the fact that the children in TES:V were completely invulnerable and now he had made one completely invulnerable here in real life. Lucia, on the other hand, began to bawl when Loki put the chain around her neck. Hugging him tightly and burying her face in his robes, she sobbed for several minutes before Loki and Ysolda managed to calm her down enough to talk again.

"What's wrong Sweetheart?" Ysolda asked her, gently stroking her hair.

"It's so… so… it's so beautiful… hic… No one's ever… hic… Nobody's ever been so nice to me… hic hic… Not since… Not since Mama…" and she buried her face and started bawling again. After she finally calmed down and recomposed herself, Lucia spent most of the rest of the evening looking at the gems of her new necklace, carefully examining each one in complete awe of what was the second greatest gift she had ever been given; the first being her new life of being cared for again.

After Loki had bid everyone goodnight and retired to his room, he spent the rest of the night testing his magicka regeneration with telekinesis spells and thinking about the relationships he was forging with the people he had met since arriving here. They were no longer NPC's to him, these were real people with real lives and feelings and he knew he was becoming attached to each of them. He had only been here a few weeks, but he already felt like he truly cared for the people of Skyrim, and how bad it will hurt when the time came to return home.

* * *

He must have fallen asleep with his thoughts, because he awoke to the morning light coming through the window and Ralof knocking on the door. They ate a hearty breakfast up on the balcony over the main hall of the inn while Loki went over what "the scrolls" had predicted would happen today.

"I want you three armored up and waiting for me at the stables. I will give Farengar the tablet at noon and I expect the dragon to attack soon after that. I will wear my armor, covered by my robes until I meet you. We still don't know what it's going to take to kill this beast so we need to play it cautious and not rush into a frontal assault with an immortal, fire breathing, flying lizard. OK?"

The Nords didn't really know how to respond to that last part since it was the traditional style of their people to face their foe head on in melee combat, but they agreed.

"Good, now let's get suited up. I've kept destiny waiting long enough."

They spent the majority of the morning getting their armor on and fitted just right in expectation of the fight to come. Each had their chain of amulets fixed into the padding inside their armor so it couldn't get knocked off in the battle and each covered their armor with robes so as not to be seen since Loki expected Delphine to be at Dragonsreach when he arrived but didn't know when she would pass through town and he didn't want her knowing about them yet.

Leaving the inn, the three Nords headed for the gates and the stables while Loki, with the dragonstone in hand, began the climb though the city to the keep.

The guards let Loki into the Dragonsreach and he headed straight for Farengar's study. Announcing himself, he saw a familiar face standing over the table, despite the hood she attempted to hide in.

"Nice to see you again Delphine. Farengar, here's the map you are looking for. I suggest looking at the eastern tombs to start with."

Farengar looked up as though he had forgotten what he was doing, then snapped out of it just as fast. "Ah, the Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow, seems you and your crew are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way. Of course, I think you have proven that with your studies the last few days." Then, turning to delphine, "So your information was correct after all. And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it for us."

Delphine looked at Loki, clearly miffed that her identity had been compromised. "You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that? Nice work." Then, turning back to Farengar, "Just send me a copy when you've deciphered it." Then she turned to make a quick exit.

"Thank you Delphine, see you again soon." Loki said with a sly smile.

Just then, as the moment Loki had been anxiously awaiting came. Irileth ran through the door nearly out of breath.

"Farengar! Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby." Then, realizing Loki was there, "You should come, too."

Farengar looked as though this were just a grand opportunity for his research. "A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?"

Irileth didn't see it nearly as optimistically as the excited court wizard. "I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it. Let's go."

They basically sprinted to the war room by the Great-Porch, the poor mage having difficulty keeping up with the Dunmer housecarl and the young outlander.

Entering the room, Loki saw the Jarl with a guard who looked as though he had just run a 25k road race in full armor. As the guard described what had happened at the western watchtower between gasping breaths Irileth was sending another guard to muster her men at the gates. The Jarl told the soldier to go to the barracks and rest up, but the young man protested saying he should rejoin the fight.

"You are in no condition to fight a dragon, son, and you would only get yourself killed like this. You did your duty by alerting us to the attack, there is no shame in being spent on that task. Rest now, we'll take it from here." Then he turned to Loki. "There's no time to stand on ceremony now, I need your help again my friend. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here. I haven't forgotten the services you have already done for me and my people. You are now a citizen of Whiterun Hold, and may own property inside the city."

"Thank you my Jarl. I'll see to that as soon as I get back from this, if I survive again that is." Loki smirked as he said that last part and then turned to leave, hearing Farengar begging for the chance to go as well as he exited the war room and headed for the gates as fast as he could.

* * *

Reaching the stables and regrouping with his companions, Loki removed the robes covering his armor and retrieved his weapons that Hadvar had brought down for him.

"It's happening, western watchtower, let's go."

"We saw it circling the skies, it looks like the watchtower is destroyed." Ralof informed him.

"You guys said we were going to fight dragons, I honestly didn't expect this to happen so soon. Well, let's see what we're made of." Uthgerd seemed all too ready to take on Mirmulnir. Loki suspected she would fistfight the dragon if she got the chance.

Irileth and her men were passing the stables as Loki's group was setting out, so they fell in with them and approached together. The group stopped behind a large rock for cover to assess the situation before Irileth gave the order to fan out and search for survivors. Anticipating the moment to come, Loki conjured a bow, nocked it, and approached the door to the tower.

That's when they heard the roar. It came from the south, directly over the pass through the mountains. Loki was relieved to see that Mirmulnir was not as big as Alduin, but that didn't change the fact that he was still huge. The dragon made a pass around the west side of the tower, laying a wall of flames as he passed, then turned and did the same up the east side. It was clear he was trying to trap the soldiers inside a box of fire. Loki watched the dragons motions carefully and waited for him to fly in his direction before loosing his arrow so his target would not be moving so fast laterally. The arrow struck its target in the shoulder, just under the front of the wing, but Mirmulnir acted as if he barely noticed. He swooped suddenly and grabbed one of the city guards, then flew high in the air. Flipping the guard up above his own head, Mirmulnir roasted the guard and then caught him and swallowed him on his way back down.

Another guard saw this and was overtaken by fear. He turned and tried to run back to the road but only got burned from behind as he ran.

"Nikriin, Dir asht Faas (Coward, die in fear)" the dragon roared as he circled back, then seeing the others standing to fight him, "Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde! (My overlord will devour your souls in Sovngarde)"

Mirmulnir landed with a crash in front of Loki and his three companions. Spying the armor worn by Ralof and Hadvar, Mirmulnir started to laugh. "Mindin Pah Daar Eruvos, Faal Akaviri Los Nu Unt Qahnaar Zu'u? Hi Fen Funt Ol Hi Drey Us (After all these years, the Akaviri are still trying to kill me? You will fail as you did before.)" and he let out a blast of fire at the four.

Loki threw up a ward while Ralof and Hadvar ran to opposite flanks of the dragon. Uthgerd charged forward with her greatsword as soon as Mirmulnir's fire breath ran out and Loki threw lightning bolts as fast as he could charge the spells. The two Nords on the flanks cut holes though the webbing of the dragon's wings and arrows from the hold guards bounced off the upper scales while Uthgerd ran underneath and rammed her greatsword into the dragon's midsection.

Feeling the wounds inflicted by the mortals, Mirmulnir tried to lift off, but couldn't catch any air in his wings for lift. Realizing this he got pissed. Up til now, he had just been toying with these puny mortals; but now he realized it was life and death. Mirmulnir spun violently to his left, catching Hadvar with his horns, Ralof with his tail sending both flying while knocking Uthgerd to the ground and catching her in his claws.

Loki drew Dragonbane from its saya and charged, only to have the dragon spin back around and slam him with the small spikes on the side of his head. Taking the strike in the upper chest, Loki flipped halfway over and slammed into the ground head first, still holding tightly to his sword. Dazed and confused he snapped to just in time to roll to the side and avoid getting bitten. Mirmulnir came up with a mouth full of dirt and rock then shook his head violently to get it all out. Forgetting the Nord woman trapped under his claw, Mirmulnir lunged forward at Loki, who had managed to get back to his feet. Loki braced Dragonbane in front of himself to block the attack and Mirmulnir took a slice through the nose of his own doing. Mirmulnir drew back his head and inhaled.

"YOL TOOR SHUL"

Loki threw up a ward but wasn't quick enough so it didn't have time to charge to full strength. The ward shattered and the fire enveloped the young man. Everyone watching thought the worst, seeing Loki completely engulfed in fire, he had to be roasted to a crisp corpse. Irileth loosed arrows at the beast's eyes, skewering one and blinding Mirmulnir on his right side. As the flames dissipated they saw Loki on his knees, hands covering his averted face, holding Dragonbane whose blade was now glowing red. His ward had failed him, but luckily his amulets had not.

Loki iced his blade with a spell to cool it back down and keep it from bending. Others were attacking the dragon and Mirmulnir was swatting them off with his tail and wings like a horse does to flies. Loki attempted another strike from the dragon's blind side and sunk his blade into his body behind the wings. Mirmulnir spun and caught Loki with his tail and sent him flying into one of the large stones that had fell from the tower causing everything to go black for a moment. His regeneration enchantment brought him back quickly, but he soon realized he was on his back with a dragon charging at him and his sword had landed some ten meters away.

With the Mirmulnir bearing down on him, mouth wide intending to swallow him whole; Loki reached for Dragonbane with his telekinesis he had been practicing that morning. Just as Mirmulnir was about to bite down, Dragonbane was back in Loki's hand and he drove the blade through the roof of the dragon's open mouth. The tip of the blade came out the top of the beast's head and his whole body sparked with electrical power from Dragonbane's enchantment. Mirmulnir's body shook violently from the shock, then as Loki pulled the blade from his mouth. The beast roared, uttered the words "DOVAKIIN? NOO..", and fell dead.

Everyone who was still alive was picking themselves up off the ground and checking the wounded; Loki's companions were back on their feet rather quickly, their wounds healing almost instantly; Irileth was accounting for all her men, taking note of how many she had lost and were wounded; Loki stumbled over by the corpse of the dragon and dropped to his knees.

Despite the regeneration enchantments, Loki felt spent. The way you feel when you run a race and you sprint in the last stretch, leaving everything on the track. He had left it all on the field of battle. It was then that he noticed it, out of the edge of his vision. It was like a fire coming from beneath the scales, burning its way between them. Mirmulnir was burning from the inside out. The scales exploded off of the body, flying in every direction; the flesh underneath burning at ten thousand degrees, but instead of giving off smoke, it gave off a magical aura. Golden bands of energy were swirling around the body. Everyone was backstepping trying to get clear of whatever this strange magic was except Loki. Loki knew he couldn't fight it, he had to accept it for the threads of destiny to continue.

He stepped into the edge of the swirling bands of energy and felt the surge of power envelope his body. He could feel magic pouring into his very being, knowledge into his mind, and power into his very soul. His body felt like it was being electrocuted and his blood like it was boiling. Loki only thought he knew Dovazul, but he never knew it like this. He could feel every work of the language inside him, he understood the words as only a Dovah can. Mirmulnir was one of the oldest dragons in existence, being one of the very few to never have been killed by the Blades; his knowledge was so extensive it made Loki's head feel like it was going to explode taking it all in. Images began to flash before him from all through time, both the dragon's life and his own. His vision grew brighter and brighter, from the golden aura to a bright and blinding white, and then to black… nothingness…

Loki couldn't feel anything anymore, it was as if all his senses had shut down. He wasn't sure if he was conscious or not. Was he dead? Was he going home? Was he waking up from a dream?

His first sense to return was smell. Hair. Singed hair. The first thing Loki recognized was the smell of his own singed hair. Then he felt something. Someone was touching him, or rocking him, he wasn't sure. The darkness began to fade and as his eyes opened the world was a blur, then colors came, and they started to take shape. As his hearing slowly returned he realized he was groaning, then he heard someone calling his name.

Loki finally came to to find that he had been propped up against the stone that Mirmulnir had slammed him into earlier, and everyone was gathered around him in a semi-circle staring at him like he was some new wonder of the world. His first thought, however, was how singed was his long, dark hair. It had taken him years to grow.

One soldier stepped forward and stammered out "You, You're Dragonborn!"

Trying to get back to his feet, Loki groaned again. "Yes, I am Dragonborn. Now you all know."

"What happened to you just then?" Uthgerd looked very concerned. They hadn't filled her in on the dragonborn part when they recruited her last night.

"When I killed the dragon, I took his soul. With it, i took all his power and his knowledge. I think that's what knocked me out, learning all of that at once overwhelmed my senses. It was like my mind was on fire."

"But can you shout? That's how you can truly know if you are Dragonborn, if you can shout." The soldier from earlier spoke up.

"Well, there's actually a lot more to it than shouting, and others can do that too, but yes, I can." Loki turned away from the crowd and faced the stone he had been propped against.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The stone went flying through the air and skipping across the ground, coming to a stop when it struck the base of the watchtower.

Irileth stepped forward. "That's enough of this Dragonborn stuff. The Jarl needs to know what happened here, and that we can kill the damn things. My men and I will secure the area, take yours and report to the Jarl."

Walking over and pulling one of the fangs out of Mirmulnir's skull, Loki replied, "Will do. Don't let anything happen to that skeleton, I got dibs on the bones and scales."

"Dibs? What's that?" Irileth looked very confused.

"It means I killed him and I'm claiming them."

"Then why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Loki laughed "Where's the fun in that? I'll send some of the khajiit from the caravan to collect them. I'm more than sure Ri'saad will love it if I agree to split it with him."

As the four approached the city, talking about what had just transpired, Ralof noticed Loki kept looking up to the top of the mountain nervously as if he were expecting something. Just as they turned the corner at the intersection to the stables it came. It was as if the mountain and everything beneath it shook. Four Thu'ums in unison rumbled across the land, calling to the Dragonborn, calling to Loki.

"DOVAKIIN!"

* * *

Coming to the city, Loki found Ri'saad. The caravan was packed and ready to depart, but when Loki made his proposal to the head of the Khajiit, he sent a party with some wagons to collect the bones. Loki said he could have them for half of whatever they sold for and Ri'saad said he was sure this would make them both very wealthy.

Approaching the city gates, Loki and his Blades could here the sounds of cheering from the walls. The guards opened the gates for them and they were met by a crowd gathered around the main street. They soon found out that many were watching the battle from atop the walls. The fanfare through the city was amazing, though the introvert in Loki still made him want to run and hide. As good as the cheering crowd was for making Loki feel like he had done something special, nothing compared to seeing Lucia come sprinting out of the crowd, down the street, and right into his arms for a big hug.

"You did it! You saved us all! I was so scared."

Loki couldn't stop a moment of self-doubt. _I haven't saved anyone yet sweet child, Alduin is still to come._

He let her tag along to Dragonsreach to tell the Jarl the news.

* * *

"What happened at the watchtower? Did you kill it?" The Jarl was at the edge of his seat.

"The watchtower was destroyed, my Jarl, but we killed Mirmulnir."

"I knew I could count on Irileth, but there must be more to it than that."

"Also, I am the dragonborn. I took his soul when I killed him."

The Jarl's eyes grew wide and he slowly rose from his seat, carefully examining the young man standing before him in black, dragonscaled armour. "Dragonborn?! What do you know about being dragonborn?"

"Actually, my lord, I know the entire history of the dragonborn. I have already been to Sky Haven Temple, the ancient stronghold of the Blades and have begun reforming the Blades to their original purpose of being the Dragonguard. These three behind me are the beginning of that reformation. We will face not only the dragons, but anything that threatens the people of Skyrim."

"So it's true, the Greybeards really were summoning you."

"Yes, my Lord"

"You'd better get up there immediately. There is no refusing the summons of the Greybeards. You've done me a great service again Dragonborn. By my right as Jarl, I name you thane of Whiterun. It is the greatest honor I can grant. I assign you Lydia as your personal housecarl, I'll also notify my guards of your new title. Wouldn't want them to think you are part of the common rabble now, would we."

"I'm not sure what good a housecarl will do me without a house my lord. I won't have any more income until Ri'saad sells those dragonbones i consigned him." Loki cut a sly grin as he noticed the Jarl take his hint.

"Proventus, I'm sure we could forgo the usual purchacing fee and extend our new thane a line of credit for furnishings."

Proventus looked as though he were about to choke at hearing the Jarl just give away a house in the city. "Um… yes… of course my Jarl. It will be done."

"I thank you, my Jarl. I will have Lydia make the arrangements with Proventus since I am sure she knows this city far better than I do. There is one more thing I would ask of you, my Jarl, if I may be so bold."

"Oh? And what is that, Thane Loki?"

"That my blades be allowed to station here for a recruiting headquarters while I travel to High Hrothgar to meet with the Greybeards."

"Of course. I will do anything I can to assist you in your quest to fight for the people of Skyrim."

"Thank you my Jarl."

Loki turned back down the steps from the throne to find Lydia waiting for him at the bottom with Lucia and his Blades. "I heard your request that I see to your housing here in Whiterun my Thane. Breezehome is one of the nicest available at the moment. It is situated near the main gate. If it pleases you I will see to the arrangements immediately."

Loki was shocked at what he saw. Lydia was almost as tall as himself with long brown hair that was braided down both sides of her face, light blue eyes, and a pale complexion. She was lean and athletic with defined muscular arms and legs. Her cheeks and lips were blushed against the cold climate as many Nords were. When she spoke, her voice was feminine, yet strong, commanding attention.

"Thank you Lydia, that would be wonderful. Also, would you please ensure that in the furnishing a room is made special for this young lady." Taking Lucia by the hand. Lucia began to smile and giggle at the thought of having a room of her very own, not just a place people let her sleep.

"Certainly my Thane. The house should be ready by the end of the week."

Loki then addressed them all, "Now, I am very thankful for all you all have done. I may be the Dragonborn, but this would not have been possible without your help. I must go to High Hrothgar to meet the Greybeards, and I will discuss the details of what I need everyone to do while I am gone tomorrow; but for now I am going back to my room at the inn and take a nap. My senses are still messed up from everything that happened today."

Looking down at the child who was looking back up at him with pure adoration, he continued, "Come on Lucia, Ysolda should be down at the inn by now. You did tell her where you were going, right?"


	10. Chapter 10 - The Adventuring Begins

Loki and Ralof quietly watched from behind the large columns along the entrance to Ustengrav as the battle raged between a group of bandits who had been occupying the ruin and a group of dark mages intent on using the crypt for necromantic purposes. It seemed the wisest tactic to let the two groups kill each other off and then pick off the survivors, though, being a true Nord, Ralof did not find this to be an honorable way to fight.

The bandits really stood little chance against the mages and the battle was over in mere minutes. Loki and Ralof then made quick work of the four remaining mages with a volley of arrows since they had no idea anyone else was in the tomb.

It had been nearly a month since the battle with Mirmulnir at the watchtower, and much had happened in that time. Loki had chosen to bring Ralof with him on the journey to High Hrothgar and leave Hadvar and Uthgerd in Whiterun to work on recruitment. Lydia was left to tend to getting Breezehome ready for her new Thane and his new daughter, who was under the care of Ysolda for the time being.

Loki and Ralof had traveled to Ivarstead going through the ruins of Helgen. No bandits had taken up residence there yet, so no one disturbed them as they took a long, silent look at the charred execution block in the middle of town.

The climb up the "seven thousand steps" seemed more like seventy thousand to them as the icy winds cut through them constantly. Ralof couldn't understand why Loki insisted on stopping to read every shrine on the way up the mountain.

Meeting with the Greybeards wasn't at all like Loki had expected, since he already knew all the words they tried to teach him. Master Arngeir was completely astounded at Loki's knowledge of Dovahzuul and the words of power. He did, however, manage to give Loki a much more in depth philosophy behind The Way of the Voice and it's passive lifestyle before sending them off on a mission to recover the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Loki considered bypassing the whole quest and going directly back to Riverwood to get it from Delphine, but he decided against it figuring he needed the experience anyhow and it would give him the chance to explore this beautiful country much more in depth.

The journey back down the mountain was much faster with the two cutting between the switchbacks in the trail by snowboarding on their shields. It was the most fun Loki had had since he arrived in Skyrim. The two had stayed the night in Ivarstead but since they got down the mountain so early in the day, they decided to chase ghosts in the "haunted" tomb before the evening meal. They didn't kill Wyndelius Gatharian, but instead brought him before the town and showed everyone how he was pretending to be a ghost. The guards took him and headed for Riften to face the Jarl's justice.

Heading to Morthal on their way to Ustengrav the two passed through the ruins of the Labyrinthian where Loki took on Shalidor's Maze in order to obtain the Diadem of Savant and learn its enchantment. With proper enchanting and a bit of luck, Loki would never have to worry about running out of magicka again.

Arriving at Ustengrav, they found several dead bandits outside the ruin and one mage standing watch. Ironically, the one watching never saw the arrow coming.

Now they found themselves silently stepping over corpses, making their way through a tomb that Loki already knew was going to end without the horn.

At one point Loki led them down a corridor that appeared to be a dead end. There was several gold pieces on a table by the wall, but not much else. Ralof just kind of huffed when Loki opened a secret door in the wall leading down to a chest full of soul gems.

"You would think I would be used to you knowing these things by now, but it still seems so strange."

"Don't worry, it's still kind of strange to me too, but I'm not complaining. I would have loved to have had this kind of knowledge about my life back home."

As they made their way down into the Ustengrav Depths, they stepped out to the edge of the cliff overlooking the ruins and the river below. Loki was absolutely amazed at the sight of such a huge place underground.

"Wouldn't it be amazing for the Nords of Skyrim to actually use these great halls again instead of just leaving them to the dead?"

The two made their way down to the gates where Loki did a whirlwind sprint to the other side, then they lured the spiders out onto the pressure plates to kill them with fire, and down into the burial chamber to find Delphine's note. Ralof looked a bit upset, but Loki assured him it wasn't in vain and they would get the horn from her.

As they exited the mine, Loki plotted a course North to the High Gate ruins.

"I thought we needed to head back to Riverwood?" Ralof said with a lost look on his face.

"We will, but we've got plenty of time. Delphine isn't going anywhere, and I have so much to do, I figured I could get some of the adventuring done along the way, while we're close by. There's an ancient Dragon priest in these ruins and it will give me the perfect opportunity to test out my new weapon I had Adrianne forge for me before we left Whiterun."

"I still don't see how you think that thing is a weapon."

"I'll explain it later," Loki said laughing, "we need to hurry, someone is waiting for us."

"What? Seriously? But how… Oh for the love of Talos, nevermind! I should know better than to ask." Ralof's confused look only made Loki laugh harder.

As they entered High Gate Ruins and started making their way down through the corridors they found several draugr lying dead on the floor. Hearing commotion in the next room, Ralof drew his di-katana and Loki's hands began to crackle with electricity. They entered a large room with a table in the center, probably used for embalming the dead before they were interred in their final resting places. At the other side of the room was a balcony with a podium like table at the center and wooden ramps on both sides. A woman was running down the ramps being pursued by two very large hulking draugr and looking very much out of breath and magicka.

Ralof charged forward past the woman and with a powerful two-handed swing he sliced through one of the draugr, his blade severing from the left shoulder to the right hip. Loki slammed his hands together and the lightning bolt he threw at the second draugr sent it flying and convulsing with spasms as it also charred him to ash.

After dispatching the threat, the two men walked over to where the woman had taken cover behind the embalming table to check on her and offer assistance.

A fairly fit looking Nord woman with braided hair wearing fur looked up at them rather defensively at first, but then realized they meant her no harm and were not here to rob her.

"Are you alright Miss?" Ralof said, offering a hand to help her up.

"Uh, yeah, I'm ok. I just bit off more than I could chew." The young lady said, breathing heavily. "There were just too many of them, and I ran out of magicka. All I could do was run. Thank you for saving me, thank you both."

Loki pulled a small vial of blue potion from his pouch and handed it to the woman.

"This should help you restore your magicka. What's your name? And why are you running around in a draugr filled crypt alone might I ask?"

Loki pretended not to already know the answers to his questions so as not to alarm the woman and also so Ralof could better understand what was going on.

"I'm Anska, and I am here searching for a scroll that is supposed to confirm my family bloodline all the way back to Ysgramor himself. It is supposed to be buried with Vokun, the dragon priest who is entombed here."

"And you thought it wise to take on the undead all by your lonesome, did ya?"

"Well, not exactly. I didn't know the dead would be so… lively." Anska downed the vial and began to glow with a blue hue. Feeling very well recharged she shook her head as if she had just taken a shot of strong whiskey.

"Wow, that is some potent stuff."

"My own blend, highly distilled." Loki replied with a smirk. "Well then, let's go find your scroll. Oh, and I have dibs on Vokun's mask."

"Dibs?" Anska looked questioningly at Loki and then to Ralof for possible translation.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's not from Skyrim, or Tamriel for that matter. Apparently that means he's claiming it where he comes from." Ralof kind of shrugged as he explained Loki's strange vocabulary to Anska.

"Oh, ok." Anska looked back at Loki as though she now saw him as a strange outlander. "Then you can have 'dibs' on whatever you want in here, except my scroll of course."

"Of course, my lady. Are you feeling ready to proceed?"

Anska shook her head yes and the three began the descent into the crypts.

Deeper and deeper they went, making fairly short work of the undead guarding the tomb who were no real match for the three of them.

As they passed through the Hall of Stories and made their way to the final door, Loki reached to his shoulder and unslung a long cloth bag that had been on his back. From the bag he pulled a very strange looking staff made from dwarven metal that resembled a large version of a CB antenna with two large coils forged in it several centimeters from the top.

"You finally going to tell me what that thing is?" Ralof asked looking at the staff in Loki's hand.

"I call it the Lightning Rod. It's an amplifier for my storm magic."

"How did you get a blacksmith to make you a magic staff?"

Loki chuckled, "The staff isn't magic, it's just metal and dragonbone. It's coiled in such a way that it takes the lightning from my magic and amplifies it one hundred times higher. Electrical engineering was one of the courses I took at my college. The staff basically acts as a transformer increasing the voltage."

Ralof had learned to trust Loki's knowledge, but he still looked leary at some of his wild ideas.

"And you're sure this thing is strong enough to take on a dragon priest? I've heard legends about how powerful these guys are even after death."

"Well, I know it works as far as fuctionally. I fired a few bolts of lightning through it after Adrianna finished it. This will be it's first combat test though. May the Nine be with us." Loki gave Ralof a smile and pushed open the door.

Inside they found a large room with ascending levels and a sarcophagus at the top. No sooner had the three entered the room than to top blew off of the sarcophagus and out came the scariest thing Loki had seen since Alduin landed on the wall above his head in Helgen.

Vokun was nothing more than a skeleton held together by leathery skin that looked as dry as parchment. The cloth of his priest robes was in tatters, but the scale-like armor over the shoulders, arms, and chest were still intact.

The priest began to fly across the room toward them, fireballs forming in his hands as he prepared to destroy whoever had disturbed his rest.

Loki cast an invisibility spell on himself and ran to the right side of the room, Anska casting stoneflesh on herself to withstand an attack, and Ralof diving behind the column on the left for cover as he readied his bow.

Loki found out quickly, as he dodged fireballs, that the dragon priest did not depend on sight to know where intruders were in his tomb.

 _ **I guess that would make sense since his eyes rotted away ages ago.**_ Loki chastised himself for underestimating the undead priest's senses.

Anska cast a flaming familiar that attacked the priest and distracted him for a few seconds. That was all the time it took for the priest to destroy it, but it was enough for Loki to take aim and fire.

Holding the staff with both hands Loki cast his lightning spell up the shaft of the staff. As the power flowed through the coils it amplified over and over until it reached the top of the staff and then a bolt arced across the room so strong it made a thunder clap in its wake. Hitting the dragon priest in the chest, the arc of electricity melted part of the armor scales of the priest's robe and sent him flying backwards into the wall above one of the standing sarcophaguses on the side of the room. Magicka swirled around him as he recomposed himself; he was clearly injured and weakened but not nearly as much as Loki had hoped for.

Ralof was firing arrows that did little more than annoy Vokun and Anska was casting fireballs trying to distract the priest so Loki could get another shot. Vokun was bombarding Loki with fireballs as he closed the distance between them, his feet hovering just above the floor. Loki's ward was failing fast, so he fired a simple sparks spell through the staff to stun Vokun and give himself time to take cover behind the next column. Then, grasping the staff with both hands again, he stepped out from cover and fired sparks from both hands, holding the arc of electricity on the dragon priest and bringing him to the floor.

Seeing the opportunity, Ralof ran up behind the Vokun and brought his di-katana down through the back of his neck, beheading the priest; but also shocking Ralof so bad he flew backward and hit the floor unconscious.

Loki and Anska ran over to Ralof and both began casting healing spells on him, hoping to revive him. When the Nord didn't wake up, Loki checked for a pulse. Finding none, he unfastened the breastplate of his armor as fast as he could and began chest compressions.

Anska held her healing spells in place while Loki desperately gave his companion CPR.

"1..2..3..4..5.." then Loki gave Ralof a huge breath. "1..2..3..4..5.." *Breath*

 **Cough* cough*** The Nord finally began to breathe on his own again.

"Thank Kynareth!" Anska exclaimed.

Ralof began to come to, weak and confused.

"What happened?"

"You got hit by the electricity I was firing into Vokun. It ran up your sword and right through you. You're lucky to be alive."

Anska looked at Loki, "That was amazing, what you did. Pumping his heart, breathing for him. Where did you learn to do something like that?"

"It's called CPR. It's kind of common knowledge where I'm from."

The two helped Ralof to his feet and Anska helped him get his armor situated while Loki walked over to examine the remains of Vokun. As he took the mask from Vokun's severed head he could feel the power radiating from it. Deciding against trying it yet, he slid it into his pouch and went to retrieve his staff he had dropped when he raced to help Ralof.

"You truly are a powerful mage. You brought him down with more power than I've ever seen from a sparks spell" Anska commented.

"Thanks, but it wasn't my sorcery that did it, it was science. Without the staff he would have destroyed me for sure."

"But you designed it." Ralof interrupted. "You are a very impressive… what did you call it again?.. Ah, yes, a very impressive Nerd."

Loki could only chuckle, slightly regretting using the term to describe himself to the Nords.

As they made their way to the next room, Loki could hear the chanting coming from the wall at the rear. Walking down to it he could feel the power emanating from it. Even though he knew the word already, it still called to him. This time the power didn't blind him like before, but flowed into him and merged perfectly with the knowledge he had gained from Mirmulnir.

He turned to the table, looking through the scrolls that lay on it until he found the one they had been searching for. Walking over to Anska, "I believe this is what you are looking for Madam."

Anska read the scroll and then began to smile and kind of bounce around, giddy as a school girl.

"Oh thank you, thank you. Thank you both so much. I never could have gotten it without your help."

Ralof opened the chest by the exit to see if there was anything worthwhile inside.

"Hey Loki, got any idea what this thing is?"

Loki reached in and picked up a large, white crystal and immediately thought his head was going to explode as a voice yelled:

" **A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON! LISTEN, MORTAL…"**


	11. Chapter 11 - The Break of Dawn

**Alright guys, thanks for sticking with me through the summer break, now the kids are buckling down, getting back to school and I'm getting back into the swing of things with writing. Hope everyone had a great summer, and welcome back to Tamriel. This one's a bit short, but I've worked up a lot of ideas to fit in over the next few chapters. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

It was almost dusk as Ralof and Anska walked into the Winking Skeever and made their way to a table near the back of the tavern where Loki was sitting, his focus locked on the voice of the beautiful young lady singing on the other side of the room.

"I should have known I'd find you captivated by the local beauty." Ralof teased.

"SSHHH! I had to tip her well to finally get to hear her sing this in person. Don't ruin it." Loki replied.

" _...for the darkness has passed, and the legend yet grows. You'll know, you'll know, the Dragonborn's come."_ Lisette sang in the background, her voice like that of an angel in a heavenly choir.

Ralof rolled his eyes when he realized which song Loki had requested. They took their seats at the table as Lisette finished the song, and then Loki turned his attention to his two companions.

"Did you find the information you were looking for? I'd be surprised if anyone was open to conversation immediately after the execution of one of the locals. Tends to put a damper on people's moods." Anska asked as she signaled the innkeeper for a round of mead. She had agreed to join them after they had so graciously helped her find her scroll in High Gate Ruins and was now on her way to becoming a member of Loki's Blades.

"Yes, I did actually. Luckily for me the court mage is not one to be affected by death. She was most helpful in my quest for information. Not only did she have a copy of a very old book from the days of Spellcrafting, but she also taught me a new spell that will greatly aid in our travels. I did, of course, have to promise to allow her to browse the library at Sky Haven Temple after I finish dealing with Alduin."

"Oh? What kind of spell can help our travels?" Ralof asked doubtfully.

"Really Ralof? After everything I've shown you, you still doubt magic? Fine, I'll demonstrate."

Loki lowered his hand below the table and cast what appeared to be a small black hole, then he reached inside, pulled out a handful of septims, and laid them on the table. With another wave of his hand, the hole was gone.

"It's like a doorway into my own little pocket of Oblivion. I can store things in it, and retrieve them later, just like a chest. I can even open the door large enough to walk in like a closet, but I dare not do that here. So you see, my doubtful friend, now we can store all our gear and loot in there as we travel and not be burdened by the weight."

"By the Nine, that's amazing." Anska said, truly impressed.

"Well, alright, I guess that CAN be helpful." Ralof begrudgingly admitted.

After a few more drinks and a bit of discussion Loki tipped Lisette again for the beautiful music and then headed up to his room.

"Get some rest, friends, tomorrow we have a date with a daedra."

* * *

The following morning Loki stood before the Statue of Meridia with the beacon in his hands, hesitating.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Anska asked.

"I, uh, I'm not scared of heights, but I'm also not looking forward to being lifted into low orbit."

Ralof looked puzzled. "The things you say, I will never understand…"

Ralof was cut off in mid sentence as Loki placed the beacon into the pedestal and was whisked up into the air by a blinding flash of light.

Several minutes passed and Loki was nowhere to be seen. A light shone overhead so bright Ralof and Anska could not even stand to look up. And then, in another flash, he was back.

Loki stumbled over to the edge of the shrine dizzily, dropped to a knee, and puked.

"Are you alright?" Anska rushed to his side, Ralof right behind her.

Wiping his mouth, Loki choked out, "Damned celestial beings just don't understand, you can't just snatch a human miles into the air, spin'em round, and then drop'em. Motion sickness is a thing, Damnit!" Then, pulling his water skin from his pouch, he washed his mouth out and spit the water over the side of the shrine platform.

After getting his head to stop spinning and his stomach back down where it was supposed to be, Loki lead the two Nords inside Kilkreath Temple, explained what they were up against, and pulled his Lightning Rod staff out of the Oblivion storage room.

As they made their way through unnatural black fog in the temple, activating the pedestals and following the light, Anska and Ralof stayed back and covered the rear as Loki blasted the corrupt ghosts with lightning. The one time a shade got too close, Ralof learned the hard way that his dai-katana was useless against ghosts. Loki remedied the problem when they found an enchanting table along the way and put an enchantment of lightning on Ralof's sword that could probably electrocute a daedric prince.

The trio made quick work of the shades from that point on, having no major problems except Loki getting burned on the arm once for getting too close to Meridia's light beam. They finally made their way to the bottom of the catacombs and faced Malkoran. Loki thought it all to easy blasting the shades and then blowing away Malkoran's ward with a blast of lightning. Dealing the deathblow, the lightning bolt threw Malkoran's body completely across the room, landing near the pile of corpses he had desecrated to create his corrupt shades. Loki dropped his staff back into its storage place with the Oblivion door spell and then walked up to the pedestal where Meridia's light was shining on Dawnbreaker. It was so bright and shiny that, looking at it, Loki lost focus on everything else in the room, until…

His vision went black as Loki was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall. Cold, boney hands around his throat slid him up the wall to the ceiling high over Ralof and Anska's heads. As his eyes readjusted to the dark he saw the most evil looking shade he had seen in the entire temple choking the life out of him.

Malkoran had managed to turn himself into a shade in death and was now after revenge on this boy who dared challenge his power. All his work capturing the poor souls of the legion soldiers that littered the temple had merely been practice for using the power of Meridia's artifact to cheat death himself, and now he was going to kill this young man and thrall his soul into servitude high over his friend's helpless heads.

Unable to focus to retrieve a weapon from his Oblivion locker, Loki spotted his only glimmer of hope, literally. Dawnbreaker was shining so bright on the pedestal Loki could see it through Malkoran's dark shade. He reached his hand forward and, with all the power he could put into a spell, pulled Dawnbreaker from the pedestal straight to his hand. It never reached him, though. As the blade flew towards Loki's outstretched hand, it impaled Malkoran's shade in the back. Malkoran screamed in agony as a blast of light erupted from Dawnbreaker and consumed him in flames.

Loki fell to the floor as Malkoran vanished into flame and disappeared. After a few moments, he could breath normally again, his enchantments helping him recover quickly.

"Bloody hell, I forgot about that part, damn necromancers!" Loki cursed as he got back to his feet.

"I thought you knew everything that was going to happen in advance." Ralof looked at Loki questioningly.

"Just because I've seen it all in the scrolls doesn't mean it's right at the top of my recollection. Mortal memory, remember! Alright, you guys might as well make your way back to the top of the shrine, I'll meet you there."

"And just where do you think you're going without us? Huh?" Anska looked like there was no way she was letting the Dragonborn out of her sight again until they were out of that cursed ruin of a temple.

Loki just looked at them, smiled, picked up Dawnbreaker, and disappeared into another blinding flash of light.


	12. Chapter 12 - A Blade in the Dark

Loki stood on the platform in front of Alduin's wall and watched as Hadvar marched the new recruits into Sky Haven Temple. He had sent a courier from Solitude before they left to have Hadvar bring what recruits he had and leave Uthgerd in Whiterun in charge of recruiting efforts. Hadvar had around fifty recruits so far, which wasn't bad for the beginning of his Dragon Guard, in Loki's opinion. He greeted them all, then went back to the library and left Hadvar and Ralof to get the recruits fitted out with armor, weapons, and quarters.

Later that evening, Hadvar found Loki in the courtyard practicing his magic and shouts while the recruits were getting settled in.

"So how long are we staying here this time? And what's next on the agenda?"

"I'll be leaving for Riverwood in the morning, I want you and Ralof to get these recruits trained and ready while I track down the remaining people and items needed to take on Alduin."

"You mean you want to go alone? Hell No!"

"Hadvar, it will be ok. I have my armor and weapons, and my enchantments can protect me from any common bandits along the way. Plus, I have mastered most of my shouts. As long as I stay on the roads I should be fine. Besides, Delphine will be with me after I reach Riverwood. I'll be fine."

"I guess. I still don't like it, but I have to admit you know what you're doing." Hadvar sighed reluctantly.

Loki placed his hand on Hadvar's shoulder. "I appreciate the concern, my friend. I'll be fine. Now, give me a hand in the library. I want the Spellcrafting and the Enchantment alters placed into my Oblivion locker in case I need them while I'm travelling."

"You've figured out how to use them?" Hadvar asked.

"Well, I'm learning. The court mage in Solitude was most helpful."

With that, the two went off to get Loki packed for his journey.

* * *

The road was fairly uneventful for the most part. Loki had worn common clothes so as not to attract a lot of attention and kept his amulet chain tucked away from view. If at any point he suspected anyone was near, he would cast an invisibility spell until he determined whether the source of alarm was any threat, and any wild animals were quickly pacified by his Kyne's Peace shout. After making a slight detour on the plains to make good on a promise, he arrived in Whiterun just after dusk and made his way to Breezehome to get some rest.

When he awakened the following morning, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. As the room came into focus Loki realized someone was in the room. He snatched the covers up over his waist as he exclaimed, "What the Hell?!"

At the table, in the corner of the room, calmly sat Lydia eating a roll of bread and casually watching him.

"Good morning my Thane. It's good to see you again. If I had known you would be back last night I would have had your bed prepared and a meal."

"Um… how long have you been sitting there?" Loki asked with a very disturbed look on his face.

"I don't know, forty-five minutes, an hour maybe. I tried to rouse you for breakfast, but you were sleeping very deeply."

"Yeah, I was tired, It's a long walk from Sky Haven Temple. And watching people sleep is creepy, Lydia, even if you are their sworn protector. If you had startled me awake I might have shouted you through the wall. Let's not have that happen, OK?

Lydia's expression changed to that of a scolded child. In a very apologetic tone she said "I'm sorry if I offended you, Thane. It won't happen again."

"No, no, I'm not offended. I'm just jumpy when I wake up to find someone in the room when I was expecting to be alone. I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt you. I'm still getting used to having the power of the dragons at the sound of my voice."

"I understand my Thane. Would you care for something to break your fast now?"

"Sure, I guess. Just let me get dressed."

"Yes, my Thane." Lydia said, still sitting in the chair.

"Um… alone, please, Lydia."

"Oh… OH! Of course my Thane, forgive me, I wasn't thinking. I, um… I'll go set the table." Lydia blushed as she quickly left the room and closed the door.

Loki donned a nice robe, but nothing too fancy. He didn't really want to stand out today, just get a few things done before he headed on to Riverwood. After he finished eating he headed out to check on Lucia and give Ysolda the mammoth tusk he had promised her. That was the reason for the detour on the plains. Lucia was very excited to have her adopted father home, even if it was only for a short while. They spent the morning in the market so Loki could offload some of the loot he had acquired in his travels and buy a few odds and ends to make sure Lucia had everything she needed during his absences. He also let her know that her room was ready and she could move into Breezehome whenever she was ready.

They had lunch in the Bannered Mare and Uthgerd let him know how recruiting was going. She said it had been pretty good after the dragon attack on the watchtower, but had slowed down in the last few weeks.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will pick back up again soon once I start hunting dragons and the stories get out." Loki told her reassuringly

After lunch he headed up to Dragonsreach to inform the Jarl of his current progress, check on the current political issues in Whiterun, and see if Farengar had some more soul gems he could buy. On his way back to the gate heading out to Riverwood Loki ran into a well-dressed Redguard with a snooty air about him.

"Do you get to the Cloud District very often?" He scoffed as he eyed Loki's casual robes, "Oh, what am I saying? Of course you don't."

Loki rolled his eyes in recognition. "Actually I just came from there. I'm Loki, THANE of Whiterun, and you must be Nazeem, the farmer the Jarl complains is stalking him. You do what, exactly? Advise the Jarl as to what vegetables he should eat for dinner? Save your pretentiousness for someone who didn't save the city from a dragon. Oh, and leave the Jarl alone. He already has too many boot lickers to deal with."

Nazeem's eyes grew wide at the obvious insult, but Loki just laughed and walked on by without giving him time to respond.

* * *

Lydia, Uthgerd, and Lucia saw him off at the stables and he took the carriage to Riverwood, arriving in time to greet a few of his friends who were having evening drinks at the Sleeping Giant before he went over and subtly handed the note to Delphine.

"I'm here to rent your attic room, or should i say your little basement hideout?"

At the mention of her secret room, Delphine got noticeably nervous. "You? You're the Dragonborn? Not exactly who I expected."

"So sorry to disappoint you, but I'm the one Akatosh chose."

As they closed the door and walked into the basement room Delphine continued her doubt. "How do I know that you are actually Dragonborn. I retrieved the horn, does that make me Dragonborn?"

"No it doesn't, though I am curious how you managed to open the triple gates without being able to Whirlwind Sprint. That's not really important though. I devoured Mirmulnir's soul and absorbed his power. You were there that day, you should know that already. By the way, where's my horn?"

"Oh, yeah, here." Delphine handed over the horn, seeming a little caught off guard by how Loki appeared to be completely ready for anything she asked before she asked it. "Don't you even want to know who I am or why I've sought you out?"

"I can probably answer those questions better than you can Deplhine. 'The Elder Scrolls' have revealed much to me."

"Is that so, then can you tell me where we need to go next?" Delphine lowered her brow and crossed her arms with doubtful suspicion.

"Get some rest, we leave for Kynesgrove at dawn."

Delphine was left speechless as Loki simply bowed and turned to leave the room.

* * *

The following morning Loki stepped out of his room wearing his Dragonscale armor with Dragonbane at his side. Again, Delphine's eyes went wide at the sight of the Akaviri craftsmanship. "Where did you get that?" She said in a tone that sounded like she was accusing him of robbing the graves of long dead Blades.

"You'll find out in due time, but know it was crafted specifically for me, as was this sword. Now, let's eat and get going."

After Breakfast they boarded the carriage that Loki had paid to wait the night and carry them to Kynesgrove. Even Pushing the horses hard, the carriage didn't arrive in Kynesgrove until midday the following day. There was no sign of any dragon's yet, but They wasted no time getting up to the old burial mound and getting prepared for what was coming next.

They made a hide on the edge of the clearing from which to watch the events unfold and assess the situation. Loki explained very clearly to Delphine that they needed to see what was happening before trying to jump into combat with the dragons. Delphine had a bow and a Blades katana while Loki had Dragonbane on his belt and his Lightning Rod staff on his back. He figured shock magic would be the best to take on Sahloknir since dragons are basically immune to fire and frost. Like Ralof, Delphine was puzzled by the strange looking staff, but her pride kept her from asking about it since she never wanted to let on that she didn't know about something. Being that she had lived the last few decades in such secrecy, the fact that Loki was a complete mystery to her while he seemingly knew everything about her was frustrating and unnerving her to no end.

Just before sundown, they saw him coming. Alduin soared down the edge of the mountains from the southwest passing between Bonestrewn Crest and Mzulft. He circled Kynesgrove twice before coming to a hover over the burial mound.

Delphine almost leapt out of the hide to attack but Loki grabbed her, pulling her down, and in a hushed tone told her "That's the dragon that destroyed Helgen, we can't take him ourselves. Even the legion got their asses handed to them by this dragon."

"What are we supposed to do? Just sit here and let him do whatever he wants?"

"You can watch, and maybe learn something useful to help us stop him in the future, or you can run out there and die and he will do whatever he wants anyway. Get it? Now stay quiet so I can hear him. I need to hear what he says."

Alduin began to speak and a power began to emanate from the mound.

"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!" (Sahloknir, I bind your dragon spirit for eternity.)

Then he shouted and his thu'um shattered the stone lid of the burial mound. "Slen Tiid Vo!" (Flesh Time Undo).

The skeleton of Sahloknir climbed from the ancient burial mound, looked up at Alduin, and then began to regenerate his flesh and scales. Loki took special note of both the resurrection shout and the way Alduin first bound Sahloknir's spirit to his own will, basically making him a slave.

Loki whispered to Delphine, "Whatever happens, stay hidden until the black dragon is gone."

Delphine looked at him puzzled as he formed an orb of magicka in his hand. "And just what are you going to do?" she asked.

"Get a better view, stay put." Then he cast the spell and vanished.

Loki snuck up close enough he could actually feel the heat coming off of Sahloknir as the dragon's flesh 'unburned' back onto his bones. He had the Lightning Rod in his hands and lightning spells primed with both hands in case the dragons realized he was there and attacked, though he knew he stood little chance against Alduin at this point. He just hoped the events unfolded as they were supposed to.

"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" (Alduin, my lord. Has the time come to restore our ancient dominion) Sahloknir asked once he was restored to his complete self.

"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." (Yes, Sahloknir, my champion.) Alduin replied to his newly resurrected underling. Then he turned to where Loki was standing and spoke as if he could see Loki all along.

"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi." (So, you are the dragonborn? I see nothing of the dragon kind in you.) Then he began to address Loki in the common tongue.

"You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."

Loki dispelled his cloak and became visible again, then stared Alduin directly in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity. He considered replying to the arrogant dragon overlord in Dovahzul, but decided against it so as not to tip his hand and let the overly confident antagonist know he was facing a much more knowledgeable opponent.

"Sahloknir, krii daar joorre." (Sahloknir, kill these mortals) Alduin ordered Sahloknir before flying off in the direction from which he came. He obviously felt that dealing with Loki and Delphine himself was beneath him and should be left to a lesser Dovah.

Sahloknir turned to face Loki straight on and both moved to close the distance between them until they were standing within three meters of each other, both silently staring as if sizing up the other or waiting for the other to make the first move. Then Loki spoke.

"Sahloknir, we don't have to fight. Join me, stop Alduin from ending the world, if it ends you will end with it.

"Mortal fool. Alduin has returned to rule this world, not end it. He stopped doing that long ago."

Then Sahloknir turned to where Delphine was hiding and said "Hiding will not save you joorre."

As Delphine came out of where she was hidden, Loki continued: "Then you will not let this end without a fight?" He adjusted his grip on the Lightning Rod and prepared himself for what he knew would be the answer.

"I see that mortals have become arrogant while I slept. My lord Alduin requires your death, I am glad to oblige him." Sahloknir said as he raised up and began to unfurl his wings for the first time in ages.

Loki breathed deeply, then in a resigned tone said "So be it." and let forth an amplified dual-cast bolt through his staff directly into Sahloknir's chest.

The bolt knocked Sahloknir back into the burial mound and left him twitching for a couple of seconds, but by the time Loki got to the top of the mound the stunned dragon had recovered his orientation. Sahloknir turned his mouth to the sky and shouted "Wuld Nah Kest."

The dragon was instantly vaulted into the sky, spread his wings, and began to dive for a strafing run with a blast of frost breath.

Delphine ran up just behind Loki and loosed an arrow just as Sahloknir showered them with ice. Loki's amulets protected him from the harmful effects of the frost, but not the ache in the joints from the chill and the shiver that went down his body. Delphine, having no such protection, did not fare as well. She dropped to her knees shivering and starting to turn blue.

Loki fired two more bolts at the circling dragon, missing once, then hitting him in the tail. It was just enough to drive his circle back a little wider and give Loki time to grab two vials out of a pocket to give Delphine. One was a healing potion, the other was a potion to resist the cold. He had intended to give her that one before the fight, but he got a little sidetracked with all the excitement.

Sahloknir turned toward them and made another attack run, strafing them with fire this time. Loki threw up a ward over them and deflected most of the blast, then Delphine loosed an arrow at the dragon's rear after he had passed over them. The arrow managed to hit just right and stick between the scales just above his rear leg. This clearly irritated the dragon who winced, then turned for another attack. This time, as Loki blocked the frost breath attack with his ward, Sahloknir swiped his tail down and slammed both of them into the dirt.

Loki could feel his shoulder was dislocated and one of his knees felt as if it had been turned backward. He laid there in agonizing pain as his health regeneration charm quickly, though unfortunately not painlessly, healed him.

Just as he got back to his feet, he looked over to see Delphine face down on the ground. He couldn't see if she was still alive, and he wouldn't have time to. Sahloknir landed directly in front of him.

The Lightning Rod had been knocked from his hand when he got hit by the tail, so he began using his telekinesis to hurl large stones at the dragon from the broken stone lid. One hit him squarely in the head, while a smaller, sharp stone ripped through his wing.

"Then it its to be a real fight then, Good!" Sahloknir seemed to revel in the thought of actually having a bit of a challenge. "STRUN BAH QO!"

A storm welled up and lightning began to flash, but Loki reacted quickly. "LOK VAH KOOR!"

The skies cleared and Sahloknir seemed taken by surprise. He had clearly underestimated his opponent.

"YOL TOOR SHUL" the dragon shouted as flames erupted from his open maw, but Loki replied with "FIEM ZII GRON" and the fire passed through his ethereal body harmlessly.

Loki used his chance to close the distance and by the time the ethereal shout had worn off he was underneath Sahloknir's left wing with Dragonbane drawn and ready to slice the thin webbing of the wing. One quick slash and then Loki turned and shouted again, "WULD NAH KEST" and was clear before Sahloknir could grab him in his jaws.

He turned back again, held his sword vertically in front of him, and placed his left hand behind the tip of the blade to brace it. "WULD NAH KEST". This time his thu'um carried him down the right side of Sahloknir, completely severing his right wing.

The dragon roared so loud it almost sounded like a scream of agony. Since the wyvern type dragons use their wings to stand, Sahloknir fell sideways and flopped on the ground as blood poured from his missing limb.

"Last chance Sahloknir, join me or die. It won't be sleeping this time, I will devour your soul."

Sahloknir got still, then slowly turned his head toward the Dragonborn standing before him.

"Even if I wanted to, I could not turn on my master."

"The binding Alduin spoke. He bound you to him. But I take it you wouldn't join me even if you weren't bound, would you?"

"Of course not JOORRE! The mighty Sahloknir serve a joorre? I would rather die in battle. You insult me."

With that, Loki held out Dragonbane, opened his palm, and the sword went flying up high into the air. Sahloknir started to watch the sword rise, but quickly turned his focus back to Loki thinking it was just a distraction. As Sahloknir took in a large breath to make a shout for a final stand, Loki turned his palms down and dropped them hard in a sweeping motion. Just as Sahloknir began to utter his final words, Dragonbane came down like a javelin, piercing right through the top of the dragon's skull. Sahloknir's head slowly fell to the ground, and he was dead.

Loki ran over and pulled Delphine up and sat her against a large stone several meters away from the burial mound. She had been knocked unconscious in the attack, and had several broken bones and cuts, but she was still breathing. He summoned his best healing spell, but he really wished the Lightning Rod could amplify restoration spells too. Unfortunately he could only work with what he knew, and he was still learning the restoration school. Luckily he managed to patch her up enough to be able to drink another health potion, one of his special super-alchemy brews, and that fixed her right up.

Delphine looked over at the corpse of the dragon. "So is it truly dead?"

"Physically yes, but not completely, not yet."

"What do you mean?" she asked as he helped her to her feet.

Loki turned and started walking toward the body, "This is the part you've been waiting for." and as he reached out and pulled Dragonbane from Sahloknir's head, the dragon's body burst into flames.

After the blinding power transferred to Loki, Delphine looked absolutely amazed. "So it's true, you really are Dragonborn."

"Yes, yes I am. So what's next?"

Loki and Delphine talked for several minutes and she explained that she thought the Thalmor were behind it all, or at least would know who was. Loki thought about just skipping all of her nonsense, but first, he couldn't pass up a chance to screw with a Thalmor party, and second, he knew there were prisoners in the embassy he needed to free; so he let her go on and agreed to meet her back in riverwood after he took care of some other business. He had just defeated Sahloknir with very minimal help, he was starting to feel very confident in himself. Too confident, perhaps.

 _Who knows,_ he thought, _I just might survive this after all._

After Delphine was gone, he opened a very wide door into his oblivion storage locker and gathered up all the bones and scales he could to sell. _Better make profit where I can, Septims don't come from console commands here…_

After he finished up, it was very late, so he decided to stay at the Braidwood Inn there in Kynesgrove for what remained of the night and head out in the morning. It was time to see what the College of Winterhold has to offer for him.


	13. Chapter 13 - The City of the Bear

Loki set out the next morning a little after daybreak in the direction of Windhelm. The breeze blowing in off the Sea of Ghosts was bitter cold, but thankfully it was a clear and bright day. Dressed in heavy hooded robes to stave off the cold, Loki cast a Dragonskin spell on himself in place of armor just in case some unseen bandit decided to snipe him with an arrow before Loki could spot him. He also regularly whispered the word LAAS as he walked to see what life was hiding around the road.

As he approached the walls of Windhelm he noticed there was a Khajiit trading caravan set up behind the stables.

 _Perfect, I've been looking forward to meeting Ma'dran in person._

Loki quickened his pace to get down to the caravan.

Having heard of Loki and his friendship to the Khajiit from Ri'saad, Ma'dran welcomed Loki with all the hospitality of an old friend. He even told Loki how Ri'saad had saved him from the life of a servant and set him up with his caravan.

Loki opened his oblivion locker and traded some of his loot with the traders in the caravan for gold and other supplies he needed, then he and Ma'dran had lunch together and Loki discussed a special transport he needed to have escorted to Whiterun. Ma'dran assured him that the caravan's would provide the best protection they had to offer.

After lunch, Loki entered Windhelm with a very long to-do list. To start, he went to visit the Palace of Kings and the court mage, Wuunferth the Unliving. Upon entering the palace Loki attempted to cast a Detect Life spell, but found that he could not conjure the magicka. He tried to produce several other spells, but found them equally nullified.

"It's useless to try," Wuunferth said as he entered the great hall to accept his visitor, "the silencing runes in the palace silence all magic but mine."

"Really? That's amazing. I see I still have so much to learn."

"Well, at least you recognize that. I can't count the young mages I encounter who learn a few adept spells and consider themselves Master Wizards. Now, What can I do for you?"

"I'm on my way to the college at Winterhold and I was hoping to get a few pointers from an esteemed mage such as yourself. I also have several Akaviri arcane manuscripts you might be interested in for trade."

"Very well young man, come with me."

Wuunferth led Loki to his chambers where they discussed the arcane and traded spells and enchantments. On his way back out of the palace, Loki pricked himself and discovered that his amulets did actually still work inside the palace. Then, a curious thought hit him. "LAAS" he whispered just before he reached the doors to the main hall. The aura of the guards on either side lit up. _You can silence magicka, but the Voice is a completely different kind of power._ Loki made note of his new findings thinking they may someday be useful to him.

Evening was coming and the sun was setting fast so Loki made his way to the Candlehearth Hall to get a room for the night. He made a detour through the cemetery to see if the Butcher had claimed his next victim, but was relieved to find it hadn't happened yet. _Probably next visit,_ he thought to himself.

As he entered the upstairs sitting area around the hearth he spotted someone he had been looking for ever since he entered the city. A little girl dressed in rags sat in front of the fire with a basket of flowers beside her.

"Would you like to buy some flowers Sir? I picked them myself" the child said in an almost apologetic little voice.

"I'm impressed, most orphans just beg, but you go the route of starting your own business. What's your name, child?"

The young girl smiled shyly, but with a worried look on her face, and then spoke, "My name's Sofie. Umm… How did you know I'm an orphan?"

"Well Miss Sofie, it's nice to meet you. I'm Loki. And it isn't hard to guess. Your clothes, no shoes, and selling flowers for food. This city is bitter cold, where do you stay?"

Sofie was showing visible signs of getting nervous about the inquisitive stranger. "Um, I stay on the streets mostly, but I sneak in here to warm by the fire when I can. They don't say anything as long as I don't stay too long."

"You seem uneasy, why don't you have a seat at the table over there and I'll order some food."

"I… um… it's just strange. Usually the men who are this kind to me have other things in mind than buying flowers. I'll starve before I do that kinda stuff for food. And some aren't even nice about it. That Rolff Stone-Fist, you should hear some of the things he says to me when he's staggering through the streets drunk. Old Pervert."

"Well my dear, you have absolutely none of that to worry about, and my kindness will never come with a price."

As they ate, Loki told her of his home in Whiterun, his adopted daughter Lucia, and their housecarl Lydia. He then told her that there was plenty of room for her too, if she wanted. Sofie's eyes began to water, and then heavy tears began to fall. The poor beggar girl could not believe she was ever going to get off the streets of Windhelm.

After dinner, Loki got a pair of rooms and put Sofie in one of them, telling her they had an early morning to send her off to Whiterun, then Loki went out for a long walk in the night before retiring to bed himself.

The following morning, Loki took Sofie to meet with Ma'dran outside the city by the stables. He was also pleased to see that Ahkari's caravan had arrived and the two caravans were exchanging goods and getting ready to travel to other cities and towns. After introductions to the leader of the third caravan, Loki turned to Ma'dran.

"This is the young lady I spoke with you about escorting to Whiterun. Please see that she is well cared for and also whatever she requires as far as food, clothing, and anything else, just deduct from my consignment on the loot sales."

"It shall be done as you have asked. And do not worry about food, we hunt and eat as a family, and any family of the Dragonborn is family of our own."

"You honor me Ma'dran, Thank you."

Loki gave Ma'dran a letter for Lydia to be delivered with Sofie, said goodbye to his newest adopted child, and also picked up a quest from one of the caravan guards named Kharjo to find his Moon Amulet before heading to the stables to catch a carriage to Winterhold.

While getting ready to board the carriage, Loki overheard one of the guards talking to Ulundil the stable master.

Guard: "It looks like the Butcher struck again last night, but it wasn't a woman this time. Rolff Stone-Fist was found in an alley in the grey quarter with most of his insides on the outside. The captain said it looks like he may have interrupted the butcher while he was hunting the next woman to kill."

Ulundil: "That is horrible, Galmar must be furious. Maybe this will put catching the Butcher in a higher priority for the guards."

Guard: "Maybe, but we are still spread so thin I don't know what good it will do. There's also the possibility that one of those dark elves did it and just wanted to make it look like the Butcher. We may never know."

Loki smirked, boarded the carriage, and off they went for Winterhold.

* * *

Author's note:

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this. As most of you know this has been a very trying year so far, and unlike many, I was considered "essential" so I never had any time off for tquarantine and such. I honestly had to reread the entire thing myself to remember what Loki has already done and remind myself where I wanted him to go next.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck around and patiently waited for the next chapter.


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